He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips will have the king for a friend.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.
- KJV He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
- NKJV He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.
- NASB One who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.
- NLT Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend.
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
One who loves a pure heart and gracious speech gains the king's friendship. It matters because inner purity and kind words win favor.
Overview
Purity of heart combined with gracious speech earns the regard even of rulers (Proverbs 16:13; Psalm 24:3-4). The verse links inward integrity with outward grace in words. Such qualities, gifts of God's renewing work, commend a person before others and before the King of kings.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 16:13Righteous lips are a king’s delight, and he who speaks honestly is beloved.
- Matt 5:8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
- Ps 101:6My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.
- Prov 14:35A king delights in a wise servant, but his anger falls on the shameful.
- Ps 45:2You are the most handsome of men; grace has anointed your lips, since God has blessed you forever.
- Dan 6:20–23When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
- Ezra 7:6–11this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
- Dan 2:46–49At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering of incense be presented to him.
- Neh 2:4–6“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
- Luke 4:22All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.
- Dan 3:30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
- Esth 10:3For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.
- Gen 41:39–57Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 22:11 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.