Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
In the book of Proverbs, a father is passing down life wisdom to his son. This verse is part of a larger teaching about guarding every part of yourself — your heart, your eyes, your feet, and here, your mouth. 'Perversity' means crooked or deceitful speech, words twisted to mislead or harm. 'Corrupt talk' covers anything dishonest, cruel, or degrading that we let slip from our lips. The verse isn't just a warning against profanity — it's a deeper call to examine the motivations behind what we say and whether our words build up or quietly tear people down.
Lord, I know words can cut deep or build something beautiful — and I don't always choose carefully. Help me pause before I speak, especially when I'm tired, angry, or afraid. Guard what comes out of my mouth and make my words reflect what I actually want my life to stand for. Amen.
The tongue takes up almost no space in the human body, yet it can end a marriage, start a war, or make someone feel utterly worthless in thirty seconds flat. Ancient wisdom knew this long before psychology confirmed it: the words you repeat become the atmosphere you live in. What comes out of your mouth shapes your world — not just others' perception of you, but your own inner landscape. And most of us, if we're honest, have a pattern or two we'd rather not examine too closely. 'Put away' is an active command — not just 'try not to say bad things,' but deliberately remove something from your presence, the way you'd clear clutter off a table before guests arrive. That means asking hard questions: What do you say about people when they're not in the room? What words do you reach for at 11 PM when you're exhausted and someone pushes back? The invitation here isn't perfection — it's intention. Start noticing your words this week, not to shame yourself, but to ask one honest question: are these really the words I want to send into the world?
What do you think the difference is between 'perversity' and 'corrupt talk' as this verse describes them? Can you think of a real-life example of each?
Think about the last time words came out of your mouth that you immediately regretted. What was happening inside you in that moment — what feeling or fear was driving it?
Are there forms of speech that feel socially acceptable — sarcasm, gossip framed as prayer requests, venting that turns into tearing someone down — that might actually fall under what this verse is warning against?
How do your words tend to differ depending on who you're with — your closest family, your coworkers, strangers online? What does that difference reveal?
What's one specific speech habit — a phrase you overuse, a tone you default to under stress, a context where you're least careful — that you could intentionally work on this week?
If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
James 1:26
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
James 1:21
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:25
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
1 Peter 2:1
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Proverbs 8:13
A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
Proverbs 6:12
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Ephesians 4:31
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Colossians 3:8
Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth, And put devious lips far from you.
AMP
Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.
ESV
Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you.
NASB
Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
NIV
Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
NKJV
Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.
NLT
Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.
MSG