| A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of friends. | A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends. |
| Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. | Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. |
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| The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. | The lips of the righteous know what finds favor, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. |
| The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate. | To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. |
| Do not envy the oppressor, And choose none of his ways; For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, But His secret counsel is with the upright. | Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways. For the Lord detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence. |
| A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit. | The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. |
| Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. |
| He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known. | Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. |
| The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. | The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” |
| The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. | The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. |
| We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. | We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. |
