A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things.
- KJV A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
- BSB The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
- NKJV A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
- NASB The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A good person draws good from a good treasure, and an evil person draws evil from an evil store.
Overview
Words and deeds flow naturally from the moral treasury of the heart. This explains why outward reform is insufficient apart from inner renewal. The gospel addresses the heart itself, replacing the evil treasure with the good through new birth in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 15:4A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.
- Col 4:6Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
- Prov 15:28The heart of the righteous weighs answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil.
- Col 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
- Prov 25:11–12A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
- Matt 12:34You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Eph 4:29Let 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.
- Prov 10:20–21The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.
- Prov 16:21–23The wise in heart shall be called prudent. Pleasantness of the lips promotes instruction.
- Prov 12:6The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.
- Prov 15:23Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time!
- Ps 37:30–31The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom. His tongue speaks justice.
- Prov 12:17–19He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.
- Matt 13:52He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 12:35 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.