What Does the Bible Say About Talking Too Much?

Proverbs 10:19 ESV / 135 helpful votes

When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Proverbs 17:28 ESV / 117 helpful votes

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

James 1:19 ESV / 99 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Proverbs 29:20 ESV / 97 helpful votes

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 18:2 ESV / 74 helpful votes

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

Ecclesiastes 9:17 ESV / 72 helpful votes

The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

Proverbs 21:23 ESV / 63 helpful votes

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Ecclesiastes 5:7 ESV / 59 helpful votes

For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

Psalm 141:3 ESV / 56 helpful votes

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

James 3:6 ESV / 53 helpful votes

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Proverbs 14:23 ESV / 45 helpful votes

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 ESV / 41 helpful votes

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Proverbs 30:32 ESV / 39 helpful votes

If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.

Proverbs 13:3 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Amos 5:13 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.

Proverbs 12:18 ESV / 27 helpful votes

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 15:1-33 ESV / 26 helpful votes

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. ...

Proverbs 18:21 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Matthew 12:36 ESV / 21 helpful votes

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Psalm 1:1-6 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ...

Psalm 147:1-20 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. ...

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words.

Psalm 141:3-4 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!

James 3:2-11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ...

Amos 5:12-13 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.

Proverbs 20:19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

2 Timothy 2:16 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,

Isaiah 58:13-14 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Ecclesiastes 5:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

29 Bible Verses about Talking Too Much