Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageWhoever corrects a mocker only invites humiliation; whoever rebukes the wicked brings disgrace upon himself.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GHe who disciplines a scoffer earns shame for himself; he who rebukes the wicked acquires a stain.
KJV
King James VersionHe that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHe who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.
Footnotes
The *letz* (לֵץ, 'scoffer/mocker') is a specific and serious wisdom category: not merely the dull *kesil* (fool) but one who is actively contemptuous of wisdom and correction, mocking the very moral framework by which one might help them. The word *mumo* (מוּמוֹ, 'his blemish/defect/stain') is striking — the rebuke intended to expose the wicked man's flaw instead *adheres* to the rebuker. This is wisdom's counter-intuitive word about the limits of correction: knowing when not to speak is itself a mark of discernment. FOG uses 'stain' to preserve the concrete, bodily image of *mum*; FOG Message uses 'disgrace' to capture the social consequence for a contemporary reader.