Proverbs 26:5

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Prov 28:11 : 11 The man of wealth seems to himself to be wise, but the poor man who has sense has a low opinion of him.
  • Matt 16:1-4 : 1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came and, testing him, made a request to him to give them a sign from heaven. 2 But in answer he said to them, At nightfall you say, The weather will be good, for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, The weather will be bad today, for the sky is red and angry. You are able to see the face of heaven, but not the signs of the times. 4 An evil and false generation is searching after a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. And he went away from them.
  • Rom 12:16 : 16 Be in harmony with one another. Do not have a high opinion of yourselves, but be in agreement with common people. Do not give yourselves an air of wisdom.
  • Titus 1:13 : 13 This witness is true. So say sharp words to them so that they may come to the right faith,
  • Matt 21:23-27 : 23 And when he had come into the Temple, the chief priests and those in authority over the people came to him while he was teaching, and said, By what authority do you do these things? and who gave you this authority? 24 And Jesus said to them in answer, I will put one question to you, and if you give me the answer, I will say by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, where did it come from? from heaven or from men? And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven; he will say to us, Why then did you not have faith in him? 26 But if we say, From men; we are in fear of the people, because all take John to be a prophet. 27 And they made answer and said, We have no idea. Then he said to them, And I will not say to you by what authority I do these things.
  • Matt 22:15-32 : 15 Then the Pharisees went and had a meeting to see how they might make use of his words to take him. 16 And they sent to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we see that you are true, and that you are teaching the true way of God, and have no fear of anyone, because you have no respect for a man's position. 17 Give us, then, your opinion of this: Is it right to give tax to Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus saw their trick and said, Oh false ones, why are you attempting to put me in the wrong? 19 Let me see the tax money. And they gave him a penny. 20 And he said to them, Whose is this image and name on it? 21 They say to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's. 22 And hearing it, they were full of wonder, and went away from him. 23 On the same day there came to him the Sadducees, who say that there is no coming back from the dead: and they put a question to him, saying, 24 Master, Moses said, If a man, at the time of his death, has no children, let his brother take his wife, and get a family for his brother; 25 Now there were among us seven brothers; and the first was married and at his death, having no seed, gave his wife to his brother; 26 In the same way the second and the third, up to the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman came to her end. 28 When they come back from the dead, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? because they all had her. 29 But Jesus said to them in answer, You are in error, not having knowledge of the Writings, or of the power of God. 30 For when they come back from the dead there are no husbands and wives, but they are as the angels in heaven. 31 But about the dead coming back to life, have you no knowledge of what was said to you by God in the Writings: 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead but of the living.
  • Luke 12:13-21 : 13 And one of the people said to him, Master, give an order to my brother to make division of the heritage with me. 14 But he said, Man, who made me a judge or a maker of decisions for you? 15 And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has. 16 And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile: 17 And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit. 18 And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. 20 But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together? 21 So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.
  • Luke 13:23-30 : 23 And someone said to him, Lord, will only a small number have salvation? And he said to them, 24 Do your best to go in by the narrow door, for I say to you, A number will make the attempt to go in, but will not be able to do so. 25 When the master of the house has got up, and the door has been shut, and you, still outside, give blows on the door, saying, Lord, let us in; he will make answer and say, I have no knowledge of where you come from. 26 Then you will say, We have taken food and drink with you, and you were teaching in our streets. 27 But he will say, Truly, I have no knowledge of you or where you come from; go away from me, you workers of evil. 28 There will be weeping and cries of sorrow when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are shut outside. 29 And they will come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and take their places in the kingdom of God. 30 And the last will be first, and the first will be last.
  • John 8:7 : 7 But when they went on with their questions, he got up and said to them, Let him among you who is without sin be the first to send a stone at her.
  • John 9:26-33 : 26 Then they said to him, What did he do to you? how did he give you the use of your eyes? 27 His answer was: I have said it before, but your ears were shut: why would you have me say it again? is it your desire to become his disciples? 28 And they were angry with him and said, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We are certain that God gave his word to Moses: but as for this man, we have no knowledge where he comes from. 30 The man said in answer, Why, here is a strange thing! You have no knowledge where he comes from though he gave me the use of my eyes. 31 We have knowledge that God does not give ear to sinners, but if any man is a worshipper of God and does his pleasure, to him God's ears are open. 32 In all the years nobody has ever before seen the eyes of a man blind from birth made open. 33 If this man did not come from God he would be unable to do anything.
  • Rom 11:25 : 25 For it is my desire, brothers, that this secret may be clear to you, so that you may not have pride in your knowledge, that Israel has been made hard in part, till all the Gentiles have come in;
  • Isa 5:21 : 21 Cursed are those who seem wise to themselves, and who take pride in their knowledge!
  • Jer 36:17-18 : 17 And questioning Baruch, they said, Say now, how did you put all these words down in writing from his mouth? 18 Then Baruch, answering, said, He said all these things to me by word of mouth, and I put them down with ink in the book.
  • Matt 15:1-3 : 1 Then there came to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, 2 Why do your disciples go against the teaching of the fathers? for they take food with unwashed hands. 3 And in answer he said to them, Why do you, yourselves, go against the word of God on account of the teaching which has been handed down to you?
  • 1 Kgs 22:24-28 : 24 Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? 25 And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. 26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; 27 And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace. 28 And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.
  • Prov 3:7 : 7 Put no high value on your wisdom: let the fear of the Lord be before you, and keep yourself from evil:
  • Prov 26:4 : 4 Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.
  • Prov 26:12 : 12 Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Prov 26:3-4
    2 verses
    93%

    3 A whip for the horse, a mouth-bit for the ass, and a rod for the back of the foolish.

    4 Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.

  • Prov 26:6-12
    7 verses
    80%

    6 He who sends news by the hand of a foolish man is cutting off his feet and drinking in damage.

    7 The legs of one who has no power of walking are hanging loose; so is a wise saying in the mouth of the foolish.

    8 Giving honour to a foolish man is like attempting to keep a stone fixed in a cord.

    9 Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a man overcome by drink, so is a wise saying in the mouth of a foolish man.

    10 Like an archer wounding all who go by, is a foolish man overcome by drink.

    11 Like a dog going back to the food which he has not been able to keep down, is the foolish man doing his foolish acts over again.

    12 Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.

  • Prov 12:15-16
    2 verses
    80%

    15 The way of the foolish man seems right to him? but the wise man gives ear to suggestions.

    16 A foolish man lets his trouble be openly seen, but a sharp man keeps shame secret.

  • Prov 23:9
    80%

    9 Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.

  • Prov 14:7-8
    2 verses
    79%

    7 Go away from the foolish man, for you will not see the lips of knowledge.

    8 The wisdom of the man of good sense makes his way clear; but the unwise behaviour of the foolish is deceit.

  • Prov 13:16
    78%

    16 A sharp man does everything with knowledge, but a foolish man makes clear his foolish thoughts.

  • Eccl 10:3
    78%

    3 And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.

  • Prov 15:5
    78%

    5 A foolish man puts no value on his father's training; but he who has respect for teaching has good sense.

  • Prov 29:11
    77%

    11 A foolish man lets out all his wrath, but a wise man keeps it back quietly.

  • Prov 18:6-7
    2 verses
    77%

    6 A foolish man's lips are a cause of fighting, and his mouth makes him open to blows.

    7 The mouth of a foolish man is his destruction, and his lips are a net for his soul.

  • Prov 18:2
    77%

    2 A foolish man has no pleasure in good sense, but only to let what is in his heart come to light.

  • Prov 15:2
    76%

    2 Knowledge is dropping from the tongue of the wise; but from the mouth of the foolish comes a stream of foolish words.

  • Prov 18:13
    76%

    13 To give an answer before hearing is a foolish thing and a cause of shame.

  • Eccl 7:5
    76%

    5 It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

  • Prov 14:16
    75%

    16 The wise man, fearing, keeps himself from evil; but the foolish man goes on in his pride, with no thought of danger.

  • Prov 24:7
    75%

    7 Wisdom is outside the power of the foolish: he keeps his mouth shut in the public place.

  • Prov 17:16
    75%

    16 How will money in the hand of the foolish get him wisdom, seeing that he has no sense?

  • Prov 8:5
    75%

    5 Become expert in reason, O you simple ones; you foolish ones, take training to heart.

  • Prov 14:3
    75%

    3 In the mouth of the foolish man is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will keep them safe.

  • Prov 27:22
    75%

    22 Even if a foolish man is crushed with a hammer in a vessel among crushed grain, still his foolish ways will not go from him.

  • Prov 14:24
    75%

    24 Their wisdom is a crown to the wise, but their foolish behaviour is round the head of the unwise.

  • Prov 12:23
    75%

    23 A sharp man keeps back his knowledge; but the heart of foolish men makes clear their foolish thoughts.

  • Eccl 10:12-13
    2 verses
    75%

    12 The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.

    13 The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime.

  • Prov 10:8
    75%

    8 The wise-hearted man will let himself be ruled, but the man whose talk is foolish will have a fall.

  • Prov 15:14
    75%

    14 The heart of the man of good sense goes in search of knowledge, but foolish things are the food of the unwise.

  • Prov 16:22
    75%

    22 Wisdom is a fountain of life to him who has it; but the punishment of the foolish is their foolish behaviour.

  • Prov 17:12
    75%

    12 It is better to come face to face with a bear whose young ones have been taken away than with a foolish man acting foolishly.

  • Prov 15:21
    75%

    21 Foolish behaviour is joy to the unwise; but a man of good sense makes his way straight.

  • Prov 17:24
    74%

    24 Wisdom is before the face of him who has sense; but the eyes of the foolish are on the ends of the earth.

  • 1 Cor 3:18
    74%

    18 Let no man have a false idea. If any man seems to himself to be wise among you, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise.

  • Prov 28:26
    74%

    26 He whose faith is in himself is foolish; but everyone walking wisely will be kept safe.

  • Prov 29:20
    74%

    20 Have you seen a man who is quick with his tongue? There is more hope for a foolish man than for him.

  • Prov 19:3
    74%

    3 By his foolish behaviour a man's ways are turned upside down, and his heart is bitter against the Lord.

  • Prov 19:1
    74%

    1 Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are twisted.

  • Prov 9:6
    74%

    6 Give up the simple ones and have life, and go in the way of knowledge.

  • Prov 17:28
    74%

    28 Even the foolish man, when he keeps quiet, is taken to be wise: when his lips are shut he is credited with good sense.

  • 2 Cor 11:19
    74%

    19 For you put up with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves.

  • Ps 94:8
    74%

    8 Give your mind to my words, you who are without wisdom among the people; you foolish men, when will you be wise?

  • Prov 29:9
    74%

    9 If a wise man goes to law with a foolish man, he may be angry or laughing, but there will be no rest.