Proverbs 17:12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 Better to meet a she-bear robbed of its cubs
than to confront a fool immersed in folly.(A)
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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.(A)
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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 Do not answer fools according to their folly,
lest you be a fool yourself.(A)
5 Answer fools according to their folly,
lest they be wise in their own eyes.(B)
6 It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence,
to send a message by a fool.
7 The legs of a lame person hang limp;
so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(C)
8 It is like binding a stone in a sling
to give honor to a fool.(D)
9 Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(E)
10 Like an archer who wounds everybody
is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.[a]
11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit
is a fool who reverts to his folly.(F)
Footnotes
- 26.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
but the folly will not be driven out.(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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 If the wise go to law with fools,
there is ranting and ridicule without relief.
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.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.
