| A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends. | A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends. |
| He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart; he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man. | The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others. |
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| One who brings gossip betrays a confidence, but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret. | A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. |
| Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear. | Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. |
| With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge. | With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. |
| He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool. | Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool. |
| Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. | Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. |
| Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. | Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. |
| Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. | Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. |
| A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit. | The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. |
| The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person’s innermost parts. | The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts. |
