Proverbs 17:12
Holman Christian Standard Bible
12 Better for a man to meet a bear robbed of her cubs(A)
than a fool in his foolishness.
Proverbs 17:12
New Living Translation
12 It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than to confront a fool caught in foolishness.
Proverbs 23:9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:9 Lit in the ears of
Proverbs 23:9
New Living Translation
9 Don’t waste your breath on fools,
for they will despise the wisest advice.
Proverbs 26:4-11
Holman Christian Standard Bible
4 Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness(A)
or you’ll be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his foolishness(B)
or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.(C)
6 The one who sends a message by a fool’s hand(D)
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.(E)
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like lame legs that hang limp.
8 Giving honor to a fool
is like binding a stone in a sling.[a]
9 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)
Footnotes
- 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.
- Proverbs 26:9 Lit thorn that goes up into
Proverbs 26:4-11
New Living Translation
4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
6 Trusting a fool to convey a message
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
8 Honoring a fool
is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
9 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.
10 An employer who hires a fool or a bystander
is like an archer who shoots at random.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his foolishness.
Proverbs 27:22
Holman Christian Standard Bible
22 Though you grind a fool
in a mortar with a pestle along with grain,
you will not separate his foolishness from him.(A)
Proverbs 27:22
New Living Translation
22 You cannot separate fools from their foolishness,
even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.
Proverbs 29:9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Footnotes
- Proverbs 29:9 Lit rest
Proverbs 29:9
New Living Translation
9 If a wise person takes a fool to court,
there will be ranting and ridicule but no satisfaction.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
