The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking; the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil words.
Parallel translations
- WEB The heart of the righteous weighs answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil.
- KJV The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
- BSB The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.
- NKJV The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.
- NASB The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours out 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
The righteous think carefully before speaking, but the wicked pour out evil thoughtlessly. It matters because measured, considered speech distinguishes the wise and godly.
Overview
This proverb contrasts the deliberate heart of the righteous, who weighs answers, with the wicked mouth that gushes out evil. Wise speech flows from a heart submitted to God and reflects before it responds. It echoes James's call to be quick to hear and slow to speak (James 1:19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Pet 3:15But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear:
- Prov 29:11A fool vents all of his anger, but a wise man brings himself under control.
- Eccl 5:2Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
- 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 16:23The heart of the wise instructs his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.
- Prov 15:2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools gush out folly.
- 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.
- Eccl 5:6Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?
- Eccl 10:12–14The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips.
- Prov 29:20Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Prov 10:19In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.
- Prov 13:16Every prudent man acts from knowledge, but a fool exposes folly.
- 1 Kgs 3:23–28Then the king said, “One says, ‘This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead;’ and the other says, ‘No; but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’”
- Titus 1:10–11For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
- 2 Pet 2:18For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 15:28 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
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