A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
Parallel translations
- WEB A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin.
- BSB A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
- NKJV A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, And a flattering mouth works ruin.
- NASB A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin.
- NLT A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause ruin.
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 lying tongue hates its victims and flattery brings ruin. Deceitful and flattering speech destroys.
Overview
The verse pairs lying and flattery as twin forms of destructive speech, both rooted in disregard for others' good. Flattery, like outright lies, ultimately works ruin rather than love. It commends truthful, loving speech that builds up rather than tears down (Eph 4:15, 29).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 8:44–49Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
- Luke 20:20–21And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
- Prov 7:21–23With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
- Prov 7:5That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
- John 10:32–33Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
- Prov 29:5A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.
- Prov 6:24To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
- John 15:22–24If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
- John 8:40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
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 26:28 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
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.