For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- KJV For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
- BSB For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- NASB For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- NLT The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
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
By your words you will be justified or condemned, for speech reveals the true state of the heart.
Overview
Words function as evidence of the heart's condition before the divine Judge. This is not justification by works but recognition that genuine faith bears fruit in speech. It reminds believers that saving faith transforms even how we speak.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Prov 13:3He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
- Jas 2:21–25Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
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 12:37 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.