¹² Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs,
    rather than a fool in his folly.

⁹ Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

⁴ Answer not a fool according to his folly,
    lest you be like him yourself.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
    lest he be wise in his own eyes.
⁶ He who sends a message by the hand of a fool
    cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
⁷ Like a lame man’s legs, which hang useless,
    is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
⁸ Like one who binds the stone in the sling
    is he who gives honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard
    is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds everybody
    is he who hires a passing fool or drunkard.^[a]
11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit
    is a fool that repeats his folly.

²² Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
    along with crushed grain,
    yet his folly will not depart from him.

⁹ If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
    the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.