| And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. | When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. |
| Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. | Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. |
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| Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. | Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. |
| So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose 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. |
| Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. | Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. |
| May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, 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. |
| Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. | Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. |
| With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. | With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous. |
| The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. | Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. |
| Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. | Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. |
| All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. | Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! |
| If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding 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. |
| Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. | Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! |
| Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. | If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. |
| And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all 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. |
| The lips of the righteous know what finds favor, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. | The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words. |
| It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. | Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling. |
| Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, 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. |
| Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. | 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. |
| When I kept silent, my bones 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. |
| Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. | You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. |
| Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. | Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. |
| Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. | Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. |
| Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler! | Eloquent words are not fitting for a fool; even less are lies fitting for a ruler. |
| The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. | The words of the godly are like sterling silver; the heart of a fool is worthless. |
