“You let your mouth loose in evil, And your tongue harnesses deceit.
Parallel translations
- WEB “You give your mouth to evil. Your tongue frames deceit.
- KJV Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
- BSB You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit.
- NKJV You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit.
- NLT Your mouth is filled with wickedness, and your tongue is full of lies.
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
Their mouths are given over to evil and their tongues weave deceit. Their sins of speech expose their corruption.
Overview
God indicts their misuse of speech: they freely speak evil and craft deceit. The tongue, meant to praise God and bless others, becomes an instrument of wickedness. James warns similarly that blessing God while cursing men reveals an unrenewed heart; true worship requires consistency of word and life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 10:7His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
- Ps 52:2–4Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
- Rev 21:8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Jer 9:5Everyone will deceive their neighbors, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. They weary themselves commiting iniquity.
- Jas 3:5–9So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
- Isa 59:3–4For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies. Your tongue mutters wickedness.
- Ps 5:9For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.
- Rom 3:13–14“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips”;
- Ps 55:21His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
- Ps 36:3–4The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
- Ps 55:12For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
- Ps 64:3–5who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words,
- Hos 4:2There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
- Ps 12:2–3Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
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
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 50:19 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.