The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
Parallel translations
- WEB The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom. His tongue speaks justice.
- BSB The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
- NKJV The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, And his tongue talks of justice.
- NASB The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice.
- NLT The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.
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
The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom and his tongue justice. Inner godliness overflows in wise, righteous speech.
Overview
David notes that the character of the righteous shows in their words, marked by wisdom and justice. Speech reveals the heart. Such God-shaped speech contrasts with the deceit of the wicked and reflects the renewing work of grace, for out of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45), and the redeemed are called to wise, gracious words.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Col 4:6Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
- Prov 25:11–13A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
- Eph 4:29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
- Prov 15:7The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
- Matt 12:35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
- Prov 10:31The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.
- Prov 10:21The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
- Ps 71:15My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
- Prov 27:9Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
- Ps 71:24My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.
- Deut 6:7–9And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 37:30 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
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