17 Bible Verses about Speaking, Evil

For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,

For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words.

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.

“Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,
And a talkative man be acquitted?

“Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which are not profitable?

“Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

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

And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

There is nothing reliable in what they say;
Their inward part is destruction itself.
Their throat is an open grave;
They flatter with their tongue.

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy;
No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.

The north wind brings forth rain,
And a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance.

For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;

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

“You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.

You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.

He who conceals a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

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

He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

For,
“The one who desires life, to love and see good days,
Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;

being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

A perverse man spreads strife,
And a slanderer separates intimate friends.

All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they devise my hurt, saying,

The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

For,
“The one who desires life, to love and see good days,
Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.

The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;
The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

He who guards his mouth and his tongue,
Guards his soul from troubles.