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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Proverbs 18:20

Make your words good— you will be glad you did.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Belly;   Speaking;   Thompson Chain Reference - Appetites;   Power;   Self-Indulgence;   Self-Indulgence-Self-Denial;   The Topic Concordance - Satisfaction;   Speech/communication;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Fruits;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Fruit;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Belly;   Mouth;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 15;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
From the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;he is filled with the product of his lips.
Hebrew Names Version
A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
King James Version
A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
English Standard Version
From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
New American Standard Bible
With the fruit of a person's mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.
New Century Version
People will be rewarded for what they say; they will be rewarded by how they speak.
Amplified Bible
A man's stomach will be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; He will be satisfied with the consequence of his words.
World English Bible
A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
Geneva Bible (1587)
With the fruite of a mans mouth shall his belly be satisfied, and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
Legacy Standard Bible
From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be satisfied;With the produce of his lips he will be satisfied.
Berean Standard Bible
From the fruit of his mouth a man's belly is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
Complete Jewish Bible
A person's belly will be filled with the fruit of his mouth; with what his lips produce he will be filled.
Darby Translation
A man's belly is satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; with the increase of his lips is he satisfied.
Easy-to-Read Version
Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach.
George Lamsa Translation
A mans belly shall be satisfied with the fruits of his mouth; and with the fruits of his lips shall he be filled.
Good News Translation
You will have to live with the consequences of everything you say.
Lexham English Bible
From the fruit of a man's mouth, his stomach will be satisfied, as for the yield of his lips, it will satisfy.
Literal Translation
A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; he shall be satisfied with the produce of his lips.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A mans bely shalbe satisfied with the frute of his owne mouth, and with the increase of his lippes shal he be fylled.
American Standard Version
A man's belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; With the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied.
Bible in Basic English
With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be full; the produce of his lips will be his in full measure.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
A man's belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; with the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied.
King James Version (1611)
A mans belly shall be satisfied with the fruite of his mouth; and with the increase of his lippes shall he be filled.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
A mans belly shalbe satisfied with the fruite of his owne mouth, and with the encrease of his lippes shall he be filled.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
A man fills his belly with the fruits of his mouth; and he shall be satisfied with the fruits of his lips.
English Revised Version
A man's belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; with the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
A mannus wombe schal be fillid of the fruit of his mouth; and the seedis of hise lippis schulen fille hym.
Update Bible Version
A man's belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; With the increase of his lips he shall be satisfied.
Webster's Bible Translation
A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; [and] with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
New English Translation
From the fruit of a person's mouth his stomach is satisfied, with the product of his lips is he satisfied.
New King James Version
A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
New Living Translation
Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction.
New Life Bible
A man's stomach will be filled with the fruit of his mouth. He will be filled with what his lips speak.
New Revised Standard
From the fruit of the mouth one's stomach is satisfied; the yield of the lips brings satisfaction.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Of the fruit of a man's mouth, shall his inmost mind be satisfied, with the product of his lips, shall he be satisfied.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Of the fruit of a man’s mouth shall his belly be satisfied: and the offspring of his lips shall fill him.
Revised Standard Version
From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
Young's Literal Translation
From the fruit of a man's mouth is his belly satisfied, [From the] increase of his lips he is satisfied.
THE MESSAGE
Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

Contextual Overview

20 Make your words good— you will be glad you did.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 12:13, Proverbs 12:14, Proverbs 13:2, Proverbs 22:18, Proverbs 22:21, Proverbs 25:11, Proverbs 25:12

Reciprocal: Isaiah 60:9 - unto Hosea 10:13 - eaten John 4:32 - I have

Cross-References

Genesis 4:10
Then the Lord said: Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you.
Genesis 13:13
where the people were evil and sinned terribly against the Lord .
Isaiah 3:9
The look on your faces shows that you are sinful as Sodom, and you don't try to hide it. You are in for trouble, and you have brought it all on yourselves.
Isaiah 5:7
I am the Lord All-Powerful! Israel is the vineyard, and Judah is the garden I tended with care. I had hoped for honesty and for justice, but dishonesty and cries for mercy were all I found.
Jeremiah 14:7
Our terrible sins may demand that we be punished. But if you rescue us, Lord , everyone will see how great you are.
James 5:4
You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth,.... With his own words and discourses, when they are prudent, pious, and savoury; when they are with grace, and minister it; they are satisfying to himself, to his own mind and conscience, and to his family; to all within his house, which is, as it were, his belly; but, if otherwise, it will not be profitable nor satisfying to either; and therefore, if a man would keep conscience easy, and be useful to others, he ought to take care what he says; see Proverbs 12:14;

[and] with the increase of his lips shall he be filled; the same thing as before, expressed in different words, alluding to the sowing, of seed in the earth, and the increase of it; as a man sows he reaps, and enjoys the fruits of his labour; according to what a man sows with his lips, such is his harvest he is afterwards a partaker of.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The general sense is plain. A man must for good or evil take the consequence of his words, as well as his deeds. Compare the marginal reference.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 18:20. With the fruit of his mouth — Our own words frequently shape our good or evil fortune in life.


 
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