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12 Let a (A)man meet a (B)bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.

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12 Better for a man to meet a bear robbed of her cubs(A)
than a fool in his foolishness.

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(A)Do not speak in the [a]hearing of a fool,
For he will (B)despise the insight of your speech.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:9 Lit ears

Don’t speak to[a] a fool,
for he will despise the insight of your words.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:9 Lit in the ears of

(A)Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest you yourself also be like him.
(B)Answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest he be (C)wise in his own eyes.
He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence
Who sends words by the hand of a fool.
Like the legs which hang limp on the lame,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like [a]one who binds a stone in a sling,
So is he who gives glory to a fool.
Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a drunkard,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 [b]Like an archer who wounds everyone,
So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.
11 Like (D)a dog that returns to its vomit
Is a fool who (E)repeats [c]his folly.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:8 Lit the binding of
  2. Proverbs 26:10 Or A master workman produces all things, But he who hires a fool is like one who hires those who pass by
  3. Proverbs 26:11 Lit with his

Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness(A)
or you’ll be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his foolishness(B)
or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.(C)
The one who sends a message by a fool’s hand(D)
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.(E)
A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like lame legs that hang limp.
Giving honor to a fool
is like binding a stone in a sling.[a]
A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a stick with thorns,
brandished by[b] the hand of a drunkard.
10 The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by
is like an archer who wounds everyone.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his foolishness.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:8 A stone bound in a sling would not release and could harm the person using the sling. A modern equivalent is jamming a cork in a gun barrel.
  2. Proverbs 26:9 Lit thorn that goes up into

22 Though you (A)pound an ignorant fool in a mortar with a pestle in the midst of crushed grain,
His [a]folly will not turn aside from him.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:22 A lack of wisdom due to negligence or carelessness; the activity of an ignorant fool

22 Though you grind a fool
in a mortar with a pestle along with grain,
you will not separate his foolishness from him.(A)

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When a wise man is brought into judgment with a man who is an ignorant fool,
[a]The ignorant fool both rages and laughs, and there is no rest.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 29:9 Lit He

If a wise man goes to court with a fool,
there will be ranting and raving but no resolution.[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 29:9 Lit rest