The one with a perverse heart finds no good, and he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.
Parallel translations
- WEB One who has a perverse heart doesn’t find prosperity, and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble.
- KJV He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.
- NKJV He who has a deceitful heart finds no good, And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.
- NASB One who has a crooked mind finds nothing good, And one who is corrupted in his language falls into evil.
- NLT The crooked heart will not prosper; the lying tongue tumbles into trouble.
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 crooked heart and a deceitful tongue lead to loss, not blessing. Inner corruption and dishonest speech bring trouble upon a person.
Overview
This proverb pairs the heart and the tongue, showing that crooked thinking and twisted speech are two expressions of the same corruption. Such a person 'doesn't find prosperity' and stumbles into calamity. The verse underlines the Bible's insistence that out of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34), and that only a heart renewed in Christ produces upright words and a blessed life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Jas 3:6–8The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
- Prov 10:31The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.
- Ps 18:26to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
- Prov 6:12–15A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,
- Prov 10:10He who winks the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will come to ruin.
- Prov 18:6–7A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.
- Eccl 10:12The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.
- Prov 10:14The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.
- Prov 3:32for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.
- Prov 8:13To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
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 17:20 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.