Negative aspects of speech

Evil speech comes from a corrupt heart

Matthew 12:33–35 NASB95

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

See also Pr 2:12–15; Pr 24:1–2; Mt 15:10–11; Lk 6:43–45

Evil speech is a feature of a corrupt society

Micah 6:12–13 NASB95

“For the rich men of the city are full of violence, Her residents speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. “So also I will make you sick, striking you down, Desolating you because of your sins.

See also Is 6:5; Is 59:1–4; Is 59:12–15; Je 9:1–9; Ro 1:29–32; 2 Ti 3:1–5

Evil speech provokes God’s displeasure

Proverbs 12:22 NASB95

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

See also Pr 6:16–19

Kinds of evil speech

Profaning God’s name

Exodus 20:7 NASB95

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

See also Ex 22:28; Le 19:12; Ps 139:19–20

Lies and deceit

Psalm 5:9 NASB95

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.

See also Ps 36:3; Ps 52:1–4; Ps 62:4; Pr 14:5; Pr 14:25; Pr 15:4; Pr 17:20

Foolish boasting

Psalm 94:4 NASB95

They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; All who do wickedness vaunt themselves.

See also Ps 10:2–6; Ps 12:3–4; Is 10:12–14; 2 Th 2:3–4; Jas 4:13–16; 2 Pe 2:17–18

Ridicule and insults

Proverbs 11:12 NASB95

He who despises his neighbor lacks sense, But a man of understanding keeps silent.

See also 1 Sa 17:41–44; 2 Ki 2:23–24; Ne 2:19; Pr 9:7; La 2:15–16; Mt 5:22; Mt 27:39–44; Jn 9:28–29

Criticism and complaint

Numbers 12:1–15 NASB95

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); and they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) Suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. “Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?” So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. “Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!” Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.

See also Nu 16:1–50; 1 Sa 17:28; Pr 19:13; Pr 21:9; Pr 21:19; Pr 25:24; Ac 11:2–3; Php 2:14–15

Slander

Leviticus 19:16 NASB95

‘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.

See also 1 Ki 21:1–14; Pr 10:18; Jas 4:11

Cursing

Exodus 21:17 NASB95

“He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

See also 2 Sa 16:5–8; Pr 20:20; Jas 3:9–10

Gossip

Proverbs 16:28 NASB95

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

See also Pr 11:13; Pr 17:9; Pr 20:19

Obscenity

Ephesians 5:4 NASB95

and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

See also Col 3:8

Evil speech is silenced

By God’s actions

Psalm 107:41–42 NASB95

But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock. The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.

See also Ps 63:11; Eze 16:63

By believers’ blameless lives

1 Peter 2:15 NASB95

For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

See also Tt 2:7–8