And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing.

So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.

Do you thus deal with the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you?

They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”

And the king sang a lament over Abner and said: “Should Abner die as a fool dies?

And I, where could I take my shame? And as for you, you would be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.”

Then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

The Judgment on David’s Sin

And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

For wrath kills a foolish man, And envy slays a simple one.

I have seen the foolish taking root, But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.

He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges.

They were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.

Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.

My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness.

Deliver me from all my transgressions; Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.

The Confidence of the Foolish

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others.

This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah

Folly of the Godless, and the Restoration of Israel

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A Contemplation of David.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.

O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You.

I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord, And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.

Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.

A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.

Understand, you senseless among the people; And you fools, when will you be wise?

Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.

For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

The wise shall inherit glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,

O you simple ones, understand prudence, And you fools, be of an understanding heart.

Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding.

The Way of Folly

A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing.

Wise Sayings of Solomon

The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a glad father, But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.

The wise in heart will receive commands, But a prating fool will fall.

He who winks with the eye causes trouble, But a prating fool will fall.

Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool.

The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of wisdom.

To do evil is like sport to a fool, But a man of understanding has wisdom.

He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, And the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.

A fool’s wrath is known at once, But a prudent man covers shame.

A prudent man conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool lays open his folly.

A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.

He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.

The Ways of Life and Death

The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, But the lips of the wise will preserve them.

Go from the presence of a foolish man, When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit.

Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is favor.

A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident.

A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated.

The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools is folly.

Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, But what is in the heart of fools is made known.

The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.

A fool despises his father’s instruction, But he who receives correction is prudent.

The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, But the heart of the fool does not do so.

The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.

A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish man despises his mother.

Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it. But the correction of fools is folly.

Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool, Much less lying lips to a prince.

Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a fool.

Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly.

Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom, Since he has no heart for it?

He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy.

Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who bore him.

Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.

A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart.

A fool’s lips enter into contention, And his mouth calls for blows.

A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

The Fear of the Lord Leads to Life

Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

The foolishness of a man twists his way, And his heart frets against the Lord.

Luxury is not fitting for a fool, Much less for a servant to rule over princes.

A foolish son is the ruin of his father, And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.

Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And beatings for the backs of fools.

It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel.

There is desirable treasure, And oil in the dwelling of the wise, But a foolish man squanders it.

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

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

Wisdom is too lofty for a fool; He does not open his mouth in the gate.

The devising of foolishness is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

Honor Is Not Fitting for a Fool

As snow in summer and rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool.

A whip for the horse, A bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the fool’s back.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.

He who sends a message by the hand of a fool Cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.

Like the legs of the lame that hang limp Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Like one who binds a stone in a sling Is he who gives honor to a fool.

Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.

As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.

Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.

If a wise man contends with a foolish man, Whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.

Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

For a servant when he reigns, A fool when he is filled with food,

If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.

The End of the Wise and the Fool

Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already done.

The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.

So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”

For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!

And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

The fool folds his hands And consumes his own flesh.

Popularity Passes Away

Better a poor and wise youth Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.

Fear God, Keep Your Vows

Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.

For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—

For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living?

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise Than for a man to hear the song of fools.

For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?

I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.

Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, But a fool’s heart at his left.

Even when a fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, And he shows everyone that he is a fool.

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;

The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, And the end of his talk is raving madness.

A fool also multiplies words. No man knows what is to be; Who can tell him what will be after him?

The labor of fools wearies them, For they do not even know how to go to the city!

Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?”

The princes of Zoan have become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived; They have also deluded Egypt, Those who are the mainstay of its tribes.

The foolish person will no longer be called generous, Nor the miser said to be bountiful;

For the foolish person will speak foolishness, And his heart will work iniquity: To practice ungodliness, To utter error against the Lord, To keep the hungry unsatisfied, And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray.

Idolatry Is Foolishness

Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.

Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness;

“For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”

Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord, The judgment of their God.

‘Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not:

But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.

“As a partridge that broods but does not hatch, So is he who gets riches, but not by right; It will leave him in the midst of his days, And at his end he will be a fool.”

A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.

Woe to Foolish Prophets

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.

And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd.

But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,

And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.

Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!

because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools,

an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: “I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Avoid Worldly Wisdom

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”;

Fools for Christ’s Sake

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

Reluctant Boasting

I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little.

What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise!

To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.

Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

Signs of an Apostle

I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.

Justification by Faith

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Walk in Wisdom

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.

For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

Avoid Dissension

But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.

But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—