Thematic Bible: Speech evil speaking


Thematic Bible



For there are many rebellious men who are empty talkers [just windbags] and deceivers; especially those of the circumcision [those Jews who insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the Law in order to be saved].



When there are many words, transgression and offense are unavoidable,
But he who controls his lips and keeps thoughtful silence is wise.


“Shall a multitude of words not be answered?
And should a talkative man [making such a long-winded defense] be acquitted?


“Should he rebuke and argue with useless talk?
Or with words in which there is no benefit?



the beginning of his talking is foolishness and the end of his talk is wicked madness.

therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “For good reason they have made you a desolation, and they crushed you from every side so that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have become the talk and the whispering of the people.”’”





The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

And the tongue is [in a sense] a fire, the very world of injustice and unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life [the cycle of man’s existence], and is itself set on fire by hell (Gehenna).


For there is nothing trustworthy or reliable or truthful in what they say;
Their heart is destruction [just a treacherous chasm, a yawning gulf of lies].
Their throat is an open grave;
They [glibly] flatter with their [silken] tongue.


The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But his heart was hostile;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.



For their minds plot violence,
And their lips talk of trouble [for the innocent].

You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.



Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will silence;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud (arrogant) heart I will not tolerate.


For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you not to be as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder;


He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;



“Let everyone beware of his neighbor
And do not trust any brother.
For every brother is a supplanter [like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother’s heel],
And every neighbor goes around as a slanderer.

slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents,


You shall not go around as a gossip among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor [with slander or false testimony]; I am the Lord.



For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no whisperer [who gossips], contention quiets down.


He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy and faithful keeps a matter hidden.


The words of a whisperer (gossip) are like dainty morsels [to be greedily eaten];
They go down into the innermost chambers of the body [to be remembered and mused upon].


He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with a gossip [who talks freely or flatters].


Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence].



And the tongue is [in a sense] a fire, the very world of injustice and unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life [the cycle of man’s existence], and is itself set on fire by hell (Gehenna).

Believers, do not speak against or slander one another. He who speaks [self-righteously] against a brother or judges his brother [hypocritically], speaks against the Law and judges the Law. If you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge of it.

Remind people to be submissive to [their] magistrates and authorities, to be obedient, to be prepared and willing to do any upright and honorable work, To slander or abuse or speak evil of no one, to avoid being contentious, to be forbearing (yielding, gentle, and conciliatory), and to show unqualified courtesy toward everybody.


For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you not to be as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder;

until they were filled (permeated, saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and mean-spiritedness. They are gossips [spreading rumors],



All who hate me whisper together about me;
Against me they devise my hurt [imagining the worst for me], saying,


The words of a whisperer (gossip) are like dainty morsels [to be greedily eaten];
They go down into the innermost chambers of the body [to be remembered and mused upon].


If anyone thinks himself to be religious [scrupulously observant of the rituals of his faith], and does not control his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless (futile, barren).