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Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
    or you will become as foolish as they are.

Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
    or they will become wise in their own estimation.

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4-5 When arguing with a rebel, don’t use foolish arguments as he does, or you will become as foolish as he is! Prick his conceit with silly replies![a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:4 Prick his conceit with silly replies, implied; literally, “Reply to a fool as his folly requires.”

17 Interfering in someone else’s argument
    is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.

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17 Yanking a dog’s ears is no more foolish than interfering in an argument that isn’t any of your business.

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20 Fire goes out without wood,
    and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.

21 A quarrelsome person starts fights
    as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.

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20 Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and tensions disappear when gossip stops.

21 A quarrelsome man starts fights as easily as a match sets fire to paper.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:21 as easily as a match sets fire to paper, literally, “like coals to hot embers and wood to fire.”

22 An angry person starts fights;
    a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin.

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22 A hot-tempered man starts fights and gets into all kinds of trouble.

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33 As the beating of cream yields butter
    and striking the nose causes bleeding,
    so stirring up anger causes quarrels.

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33 As the churning of cream yields butter, and a blow to the nose causes bleeding, so anger causes quarrels.

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