Proverbs 26:2-4

New International Reader's Version

² A curse given for no reason is like a wandering bird or a flying sparrow.
    It doesn’t go anywhere.

³ A whip is for a horse, and a harness is for a donkey.
    And a beating is for the backs of foolish people.

⁴ Don’t answer a foolish person in keeping with their foolish acts.
    If you do, you yourself will be just like them.