If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them;
And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.
and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.