A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Parallel translations
- WEB A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- BSB A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to 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 that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
- Prov 12:13The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
- Prov 10:14Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
- Ps 64:8So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
- Ps 140:9As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
- Eccl 10:11–14Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
- Prov 10:8The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.
- Acts 23:14–22And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
- Prov 6:2Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
- Judg 11:35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
- Mark 6:23–28And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
- 1 Sam 14:24–46And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
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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.