He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
- BSB He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- NKJV He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
- NASB One who guards his mouth protects his life; One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
- NLT Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.
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
Guarding your mouth guards your life, but speaking rashly brings ruin. Careful speech protects; careless speech destroys.
Overview
This proverb links the discipline of the tongue directly to one's well-being, warning that unguarded speech invites ruin. Restraint in words is a form of self-preservation and wisdom. The teaching underscores Scripture's repeated emphasis on the power of the tongue and the wisdom of careful, godly speech.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 21:23Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
- Prov 18:21Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
- Prov 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
- Jas 3:2–12For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
- Ps 39:1I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
- Matt 12:36–37But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
- Jas 1:26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
- Prov 20:19He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
- Prov 10:19In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
- Prov 12:13The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 13:3 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.