Proverbs 23:9

The Message

Don’t bother talking sense to fools; they’ll only poke fun at your words.

Cross References

Proverbs 1:7

Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

Proverbs 14:7

Escape quickly from the company of fools; they’re a waste of your time, a waste of your words.

Isaiah 36:21

The three men were silent. They said nothing, for the king had already commanded, “Don’t answer him.”

Matthew 7:6

“Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.

Luke 16:14

When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing him as hopelessly out of touch. So Jesus spoke to them: “You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what’s behind the appearance. What society sees and calls monumental, God sees through and calls monstrous. God’s Law and the Prophets climaxed in John; Now it’s all kingdom of God—the glad news and compelling invitation to every man and woman. The sky will disintegrate and the earth dissolve before a single letter of God’s Law wears out. Using the legalities of divorce as a cover for lust is adultery; Using the legalities of marriage as a cover for lust is adultery.

John 8:52

At this point the Jews said, “Now we know you’re crazy. Abraham died. The prophets died. And you show up saying, ‘If you practice what I’m telling you, you’ll never have to face death, not even a taste.’ Are you greater than Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you think you are!”

John 9:40

Some Pharisees overheard him and said, “Does that mean you’re calling us blind?”

Acts 17:32

At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.