Do not reprove ¹  a mocker or ²  he will hate you; reprove a wise person and he will love you.

biblegateway Pro 9:8

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.

Don't rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

Do not warn a mocker, or he will hate you. Warn a wise person, and he will love you.

biblegateway Pro 9:8

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

bibleoremus Pro 9:8

A scoffer who is rebuked will only hate you; the wise, when rebuked, will love you.

Do not reprove the insolent person or he will hate you; reprove a wise one, and he will be your friend.

biblegateway Pro 9:8

Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man , and he will love you.

Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

biblegateway Pro 9:8

Do not reprove ¹  a mocker or ²  he will hate you; reprove a wise person and he will love you.

¹ tn In view of the expected response for reproof, the text now uses a negated jussive to advise against the attempt. This is paralleled antithetically by the imperative in the second colon. This imperative is in an understood conditional clause: “if you reprove a wise person.”

² tn Heb “lest he hate you.” The particle פֶּן (pen, “lest”) expresses fear or precaution (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 79, §476). The antonyms “love” and “hate” suggest that the latter means “reject” and the former means “choosing and embracing.”