'Speech' in the Bible

Come, let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) go down and there confuse and mix up their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I am not a man of words (eloquent, fluent), neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and tongue.”

But Moses said to the Lord, “Look, [my own people] the Israelites have not listened to me; so how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled and inept in speech?”

But Moses said before the Lord, “Look, I am unskilled and inept in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me and pay attention to what I say?”

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.

Then the Lord put a speech in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.”

Balaam took up his [first] discourse (oracle) and said:“Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram (Syria),from the mountains of the east, [saying,]‘Come, curse [the descendants of] Jacob for me;And come, [violently] denounce Israel.’

Then the Lord met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak and you shall speak thus.”

Then he took up his [seventh] discourse (oracle) and said:“Alas, who can live unless God has ordained it?

“Let my teaching drop as the rain,My speech distill as the dew,As the light rain upon the tender grass,And as the spring showers upon the herb.

One of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a brave and competent man, a warrior, discerning (prudent, eloquent) in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.”

and assemble an army like the army that you have lost in battle, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” And he listened to their words and did so.

As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak [Hebrew] the language of Judah, but only the language of his own people.

“How painful are words of honesty.But what does your argument prove?

“He deprives the trusted ones of speechAnd takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged.

“Listen diligently to my speech,And let my declaration fill your ears.

“Are the consolations of God [as we have interpreted them to you] too trivial for you,[Or] were we too gentle toward you [in our first speech] to be effective?

“Listen carefully to my speech,And let this be the consolation.

“And if this is not so, who can prove me a liarAnd make my speech worthless?”

“After I spoke, they did not speak again,And my speech dropped upon them [like a refreshing shower].

I have called upon You, for You, O God, will answer me;Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.

Day after day pours forth speech,And night after night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars];Their voice is not heard.

He established it for a testimony in JosephWhen He went throughout the land of Egypt.I heard the language [of One whom] I did not know, saying,

To understand a proverb and a figure [of speech] or an enigma with its interpretation,And the words of the wise and their riddles [that require reflection].

Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth,And put devious lips far from you.

If you have been snared with the words of your lips,If you have been trapped by the speech of your mouth,

“The [reverent] fear and worshipful awe of the Lord includes the hatred of evil;Pride and arrogance and the evil way,And the perverted mouth, I hate.

The wise in heart will be called understanding,And sweet speech increases persuasiveness and learning [in both speaker and listener].

Excellent speech does not benefit a fool [who is spiritually blind],Much less do lying lips benefit a prince.

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrityThan a [rich] man who is twisted in his speech and is a [shortsighted] fool.

He who loves purity of heartAnd whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.

By patience and a calm spirit a ruler may be persuaded,And a soft and gentle tongue breaks the bone [of resistance].

(The Shulammite Bride)“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,]“For your love is better than wine.

“His mouth is full of sweetness;Yes, he is altogether lovely and desirable.This is my beloved and this is my friend,O daughters of Jerusalem.” Cross references: Song of Solomon 5:1 : John 16:33 Song of Solomon 5:2 : Job 11:13-15 Song of Solomon 5:3 : Is 32:9; Heb 3:15 Song of Solomon 5:8 : Ps 63:1 Song of Solomon 5:9 : John 10:26 Song of Solomon 5:10 : Ps 45:2; John 1:14 Song of Solomon 5:16 : Ps 92:15; Col 1:15 end of crossrefs

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,Because their words and their actions are against the Lord,To rebel against His glorious presence and defiantly provoke Him.

Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low,You will speak from the earth,And from the dust where you lie face downYour muffled words will come.Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium],And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.

You will no longer see the fierce and insolent people,A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,Of a strange and stammering tongue which no one understands.

As I create the praise of his lips,Peace, peace, to him who is far away [both Jew and Gentile] and to him who is near!”Says the Lord;“And I will heal him [making his lips blossom anew with thankful praise].”

For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel,

not to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you and pay attention to My message;

“Then I will give to the peoples [clear and pure speech from] purified lips [which reflect their purified hearts],That all of them may call on the name of the Lord,To serve Him shoulder to shoulder (united).

For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming).

Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus in order to trap Him into making a statement [that they could use against Him].

“I have told you these things in figurative language (veiled language, proverbs); the hour is now coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.

His disciples said, “Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in figures of speech!

So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.

They began calling Barnabas, Zeus [chief of the Greek gods], and Paul, Hermes [messenger of the Greek gods], since he took the lead in speaking.

For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.

For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites and base desires. By smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting [the innocent and the naive].

so that in everything you were [exceedingly] enriched in Him, in all speech [empowered by the spiritual gifts] and in all knowledge [with insight into the faith].

But if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will [appear to] be a foreigner to the one who is speaking [since he knows exactly what he is saying], and the one who is speaking will [appear to] be a foreigner to me.

But [as surely as] God is faithful and means what He says, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No” [at the same time].

for they say, “His letters are weighty and forceful and impressive, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible [of no account].”

Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].

It is my own eager expectation and hope, that [looking toward the future] I will not disgrace myself nor be ashamed in anything, but that with courage and the utmost freedom of speech, even now as always, Christ will be magnified and exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive [but thoroughly deceptive] arguments.

Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].

Let no one look down on [you because of] your youth, but be an example and set a pattern for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in [moral] purity.

For we all stumble and sin in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses].

Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].

And the beast was given a mouth (the power of speech), uttering great things and arrogant and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom and authority to act and to do as he pleased for forty-two months (three and a half years).