Proverbs 27:3

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but vexation ¹  by a fool is more burdensome ²  than the two of them.

Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.

A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is heavier than both.

Carrying a log across your shoulders while you're hefting a boulder with your arms Is nothing compared to the burden of putting up with a fool.

A stone has great weight, and sand is crushing; but the wrath of the foolish is of greater weight than these.

A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but vexation ¹  by a fool is more burdensome ²  than the two of them.

¹ tn The subject matter is the vexation produced by a fool. The term כַּעַס (ca’as) means “vexation” (ASV); provocation” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); “anger” (KJV “wrath”) and usually refers to undeserved treatment. Cf. NLT “the resentment caused by a fool.”

sn The same noun is used in 1 Sam 1:6, 16 for the “provocation” given to Hannah by Peninnah for being barren.

² sn The contrast is made between dealing with the vexation of a fool and physical labor (moving stones and sand). More tiring is the vexation of a fool, for the mental and emotional effort it takes to deal with it is more draining than physical labor. It is, in the sense of this passage, almost unbearable.