34 Bible Verses about Foolish People

So now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy [in wisdom and experience]; I do not know how to go out or come in [that is, how to conduct business as a king].

Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].

Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.

My wounds are loathsome and foul
Because of my foolishness.

‘Job speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom and insight.

But David’s heart (conscience) troubled him after he had counted the people. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the sin of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. But now, I beseech You, take away the wickedness and guilt of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Hear me, I have played the fool and have done a very great wrong [to you].”

O God, You know my folly;
My wrongs are not hidden from You.

She replied, “No, my brother! Do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this disgraceful thing!

David was told, “Ahithophel [your counselor] is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “O Lord, I pray You, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

Now I have become foolish; you have forced me [by questioning my apostleship]. Actually I should have been commended by you [instead of being treated disdainfully], for I was not inferior to those super-apostles, even if I am nobody.

Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?

For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise.

I wish you would bear with me [while I indulge] in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me [as you read this].

I repeat then, let no one think that I am foolish; but even if you do, at least accept me as foolish, so that I too may boast a little.

What I say in this confident boasting, I say not as the Lord would [with His authority], but foolishly.

Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal (fool) is his name and foolishness (stupidity) is with him; but I your maidservant did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

The princes of Zoan are complete fools;
The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?”

The princes of Zoan have acted like fools,
The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope];
Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes
Have led Egypt astray.

“Like the partridge that hatches eggs which she has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune in ways that are unjust.
It will be lost to him before his days are over,
And in the end he will be [nothing but] a fool.”

And among the naive [the inexperienced and gullible],
I saw among the youths
A young man lacking [good] sense,

Five of them were foolish [thoughtless, silly, and careless], and five were wise [far-sighted, practical, and sensible].

For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take any [extra] oil with them,

But the foolish virgins said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’

You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies.

To my shame, I must say, we have been too weak [in comparison to those pseudo-apostles who take advantage of you].But in whatever anyone else dares to boast—I am speaking foolishly—I also dare to boast.

If I wish to boast, I will not be foolish, because I will be speaking the truth. But I abstain [from it], so that no one will credit me with more than [is justified by what] he sees in me or hears from me.

“Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is not He your Father who has acquired you [as His own]?
He has made you and established you [as a nation].

Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their sins, were afflicted.

‘They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

But I say, did Israel fail to understand [that the gospel was to go also to the Gentiles]? First Moses says,

“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation (Gentiles);
With a nation that lacks understanding I will make you angry.”