34 Bible Verses about Curbing Speech

“Be silent before me so that I may speak;
And let happen to me what may.

“Pay attention, Job, listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will speak.

“If not [and you have nothing to say], listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

“Look at me and be astonished and appalled;
And put your hand over your mouth.

Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
Your messengers crossed the sea

“Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The queen of kingdoms.

Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on You;
Let the wicked (godless) be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).

Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak insolently and arrogantly against the [consistently] righteous
With pride and contempt.

Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving];

Do not be hasty with your mouth [speaking careless words or vows] or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

[Hush!] Be silent before the Lord God [there is no acceptable excuse to offer]!
For the day [of the vengeance] of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice (Judah),
He has set apart [for His use] those who have accepted His invitation [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon].

Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God.

But Ehud himself turned back from the sculptured stones at Gilgal, [and he returned to Eglon] and said [to him], “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon said “Keep silence.” And all who attended him left him.

They said to him, “Keep quiet, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and family in Israel?”

Then one’s uncle, or his undertaker, shall come to bring the [disease-infected] body out of the house, [to cremate it], and he will say to another in the farthest part of the house, “Is there anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will respond, “Hush! Keep quiet! For the name of the Lord is not to be mentioned [even casually, for fear that we might invoke even more punishment].”

In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.”

“Be still before the Lord, all mankind; for He is roused (raised up) from His holy habitation [in response to His persecuted people].”

But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout [the battle cry] nor let your voice be heard nor let a word come out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout!”

The sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice [of complaint] be heard among us, or else angry men will assault you and you will lose your life, along with the lives of [everyone in] your household.”

My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue utter deceit.

That you should turn your spirit against God
And let such words [as you have spoken] go out of your mouth?

For,“The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not],
Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit).

Do not trust in a neighbor [because of the moral corruption in the land];
Do not have confidence in a friend.
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your bosom.

For I will not [even] presume to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me [as an instrument in His hands], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles [to the gospel], by word and deed,

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate, not as inferior, but out of respect for the responsibilities entrusted to husbands and their accountability to God, and so partnering with them] so that even if some do not obey the word [of God], they may be won over [to Christ] without discussion by the godly lives of their wives,

But if there is no one to interpret, the one [who wishes to speak in a tongue] must keep silent in church; let him speak to himself and to God.

But if an inspired revelation is made to another who is seated, then the first one must be silent.

I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet [in the congregation].

A woman must quietly receive instruction with all submissiveness.

“Teach me, and I will be silent;
And show me how I have erred.

“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.

Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; do not mention the name of other gods [either in a blessing or in a curse]; do not let such speech be heard [coming] from your mouth.

But sexual immorality and all [moral] impurity [indecent, offensive behavior] or greed must not even be hinted at among you, as is proper among saints [for as believers our way of life, whether in public or in private, reflects the validity of our faith].

for it is disgraceful even to mention the things that such people practice in secret.