| 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. | And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. |
| Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. | Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. |
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| Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. | Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. | Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. |
| Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. | Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. |
| With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous. | With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. |
| May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. | May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. |
| Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. | The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. |
| Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! | All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. | Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. |
| The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words. | The lips of the righteous know what finds favor, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. |
| And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. | 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. |
| Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! | Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. |
| Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling. | It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. |
| Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. | Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. |
| 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. | 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. |
| You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. | Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. |
| The words of the godly are like sterling silver; the heart of a fool is worthless. | The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. |
| When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. | When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. |
| Hiding hatred makes you a liar; slandering others makes you a fool. | Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool. |
| If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. | Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. |
| Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.” | Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.” |
| For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. | For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. |
