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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Proverbs 18:21

Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Speaking;   The Topic Concordance - Speech/communication;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Fruit;   Word;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Tongue;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Tongue ;  

Encyclopedias:

- The Jewish Encyclopedia - Food;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for July 14;   Every Day Light - Devotion for January 15;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Hebrew Names Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; Those who love it will eat its fruit.
King James Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
English Standard Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
New American Standard Bible
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
New Century Version
What you say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded.
Amplified Bible
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.
World English Bible
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; Those who love it will eat its fruit.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Death & life are in the power of ye tongue, and they that loue it, shal eate the fruite thereof.
Legacy Standard Bible
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Berean Standard Bible
Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Contemporary English Version
Words can bring death or life! Talk too much, and you will eat everything you say.
Complete Jewish Bible
The tongue has power over life and death; those who indulge it must eat its fruit.
Darby Translation
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Easy-to-Read Version
The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.
George Lamsa Translation
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those who love it shall eat the fruits thereof.
Good News Translation
What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words.
Lexham English Bible
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love her will eat of her fruit.
Literal Translation
Death and life are in the hand of the tongue, and those who love it shall eat its fruit.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Death and life stonde in the power of the tonge, he that loueth it, shal enioye the frute therof.
American Standard Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Bible in Basic English
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those to whom it is dear will have its fruit for their food.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that indulge it shall eat the fruit thereof.
King James Version (1611)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that loue it shall eate the fruite thereof.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Death and life are in the instrument of the tongue, and they that loue it, shall eate the fruite thereof.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Life and death are in the power of the tongue; and they that rule it shall eat the fruits thereof.
English Revised Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Deth and lijf ben in the werkis of tunge; thei that louen it, schulen ete the fruytis therof.
Update Bible Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And those that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Webster's Bible Translation
Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit of it.
New English Translation
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love its use will eat its fruit.
New King James Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
New Living Translation
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
New Life Bible
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
New Revised Standard
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Death and life, are in the power of the tongue, and, its friends, shall eat its fruits.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love it, shall eat the fruits thereof.
Revised Standard Version
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Young's Literal Translation
Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those loving it eat its fruit.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Contextual Overview

21 Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Death: Proverbs 18:4-7, Proverbs 10:20, Proverbs 10:21, Proverbs 10:31, Proverbs 11:30, Matthew 12:35-37, Romans 10:14, Romans 10:15, 2 Corinthians 2:16, 2 Corinthians 11:15, Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 4:6, Titus 1:10, Titus 1:11, James 3:6-9, 2 Peter 2:18

and: Proverbs 10:19, Ecclesiastes 10:12-14, Isaiah 57:19

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 22:14 - General Job 6:25 - forcible Job 19:2 - break me Psalms 12:3 - proud Psalms 34:13 - Keep Psalms 39:1 - that I Psalms 52:2 - like Psalms 120:4 - Sharp Psalms 140:11 - an evil speaker Proverbs 10:10 - but Proverbs 12:14 - satisfied Proverbs 21:23 - General Ecclesiastes 10:11 - a babbler Jeremiah 18:18 - Come and let us smite Jeremiah 49:16 - terribleness Hosea 10:12 - Sow Hosea 10:13 - eaten James 1:19 - slow to speak James 3:5 - so

Cross-References

Genesis 11:5
God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
Genesis 18:1
God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.
Exodus 33:5
God said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, ‘You're one hard-headed people. I couldn't stand being with you for even a moment—I'd destroy you. So take off all your jewelry until I figure out what to do with you.'" So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb on.
Jeremiah 17:1
"Judah's sin is engraved with a steel chisel, A steel chisel with a diamond point— engraved on their granite hearts, engraved on the stone corners of their altars. The evidence against them is plain to see: sex-and-religion altars and sacred sex shrines Anywhere there's a grove of trees, anywhere there's an available hill.
Micah 1:3
Look, here he comes! God , from his place! He comes down and strides across mountains and hills. Mountains sink under his feet, valleys split apart; The rock mountains crumble into gravel, the river valleys leak like sieves. All this because of Jacob's sin, because Israel's family did wrong. You ask, "So what is Jacob's sin?" Just look at Samaria—isn't it obvious? And all the sex-and-religion shrines in Judah— isn't Jerusalem responsible?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue,.... Of witnesses, according to the testimony they bear; of judges, according to the sentence they pass; of teachers, according to the doctrine they preach; of all men, who, by their well or ill speaking, bring death or life to themselves and others. Some, by their tongues, by the too free use of them, or falsehood they utter, are the cause of death to themselves and others; and some, by their silence, or by their prudent speech and prevalent intercession, secure or obtain life for themselves and others; yea, judgment at the last day will proceed according to a man's words, "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned", Matthew 12:37; the tongue is the instrument either of a great deal of good, or of a great deal of evil;

and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof; that delight to be talkative; that love to use the tongue, whether in a good or in a bad way, shall accordingly be recompensed; shall enjoy the advantages or disadvantages arising from it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue — This may apply to all men. Many have lost their lives by their tongue, and some have saved their lives by it: but it applies most forcibly to public pleaders; on many of their tongues hangs life or death.


 
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