| Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. | Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. |
| Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. | If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. |
| Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed. | Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success. |
| Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. | And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. |
| Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. | Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. |
| If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. | If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. |
| O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. | Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. |
| So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. | It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. |
| A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion. | Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. |
| Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. | Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. |
| With their mouths the godless would destroy their neighbors, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. | With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous. |
| For “Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it.” | For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.” |
| Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. | May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. |
| A fool's lips bring strife, and a fool's mouth invites a flogging. | Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. |
| In all toil there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. | Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! |
| Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up. | Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. |
| The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. | The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words. |
| When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. | But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. |
| And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. | And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. |
| Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. | Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. |
| It is honorable to refrain from strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. | Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling. |
| Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly. | Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. |
| Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. | You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. |
| The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the mind of the wicked is of little worth. | The words of the godly are like sterling silver; the heart of a fool is worthless. |
| While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. | When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. |
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