A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
Parallel translations
- WEB A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- KJV A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
- NKJV A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.
- NASB A fool’s mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.
- NLT The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips.
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 fool's own mouth becomes his ruin and a trap for his life. Unguarded speech can destroy the one who speaks it.
Overview
This proverb intensifies verse 6, declaring the fool's mouth his destruction and his lips a snare to his very soul. Foolish words are not merely socially costly but self-entangling and ultimately self-ruinous. The verse warns of the spiritual peril of an undisciplined tongue (James 3:6) and commends the wisdom of guarded speech that flows from a heart made new in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 13:3He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Prov 12:13An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- Prov 10:14The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.
- Ps 64:8They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- Ps 140:9May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
- Eccl 10:11–14If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.
- Prov 10:8A wise heart will receive commandments, but foolish lips will come to ruin.
- Acts 23:14–22They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
- Prov 6:2if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
- Judg 11:35As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”
- Mark 6:23–28And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom!”
- 1 Sam 14:24–46Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food.
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 18:7 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.