There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.
- KJV There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
- BSB Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
- NASB There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.
- NLT Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.
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
Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Our words can wound deeply or bring real healing.
Overview
The proverb vividly contrasts rash, cutting speech with the healing power of wise words. It reminds us that the tongue can inflict deep injury or restore. Believers are called to use words that build up and heal, in keeping with the grace that has healed them in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 16:24Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
- Prov 15:4A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.
- Ps 57:4My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
- Prov 10:20–21The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.
- Ps 52:2Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
- Jas 3:6–8And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.
- Prov 15:7The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so with the heart of fools.
- Dan 11:33Those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, many days.
- Prov 25:18A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.
- Prov 13:17A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy gains healing.
- Prov 4:22For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body.
- Ps 64:3who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words,
- Rev 1:16He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
- Ps 59:7Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?”
- Rev 22:2in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 12:18 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 Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.