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100 Bible Verses about Hurtful Words

Proverbs 12:18 ESV / 478 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 440 helpful votes

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

James 1:26 ESV / 409 helpful votes

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV / 397 helpful votes

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Proverbs 18:21 ESV / 318 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 21:23 ESV / 292 helpful votes

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

Matthew 15:10-11 ESV / 281 helpful votes

And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Proverbs 15:4 ESV / 275 helpful votes

A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

1 Peter 3:7-12 ESV / 236 helpful votes

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. ...

Psalm 19:14 ESV / 211 helpful votes

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Luke 6:45 ESV / 183 helpful votes

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Romans 12:17-18 ESV / 174 helpful votes

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Proverbs 16:24 ESV / 169 helpful votes

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Psalm 34:13 ESV / 163 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 11:9 ESV / 150 helpful votes

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

Psalm 51:10 ESV / 143 helpful votes

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Matthew 5:43-44 ESV / 139 helpful votes

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 6:14 ESV / 138 helpful votes

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

Matthew 18:15 ESV / 133 helpful votes

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV / 128 helpful votes

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ...

James 3:5 ESV / 111 helpful votes

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!

Proverbs 17:9 ESV / 106 helpful votes

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 97 helpful votes

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Psalm 64:3 ESV / 97 helpful votes

Who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows,

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 95 helpful votes

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 52:2 ESV / 93 helpful votes

Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

Matthew 12:36 ESV / 90 helpful votes

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

James 3:1-18 ESV / 88 helpful votes

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 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! ...

Ecclesiastes 3:7 ESV / 72 helpful votes

A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Matthew 12:33-38 ESV / 68 helpful votes

“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 speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” ...

Proverbs 16:27 ESV / 67 helpful votes

A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 63 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Psalm 57:4 ESV / 62 helpful votes

My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts— the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

Romans 14:10-12 ESV / 61 helpful votes

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Proverbs 25:18 ESV / 61 helpful votes

A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.

Mark 7:20-23 ESV / 60 helpful votes

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Proverbs 26:28 ESV / 59 helpful votes

A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

1 Peter 3:13-15 ESV / 57 helpful votes

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Deuteronomy 5:20 ESV / 55 helpful votes

“‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Colossians 4:6 ESV / 52 helpful votes

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Matthew 18:6 ESV / 52 helpful votes

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Psalm 141:3 ESV / 52 helpful votes

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

Philippians 4:8 ESV / 51 helpful votes

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

2 Corinthians 6:3-10 ESV / 51 helpful votes

We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ...

Exodus 20:12 ESV / 51 helpful votes

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Colossians 3:15-17 ESV / 48 helpful votes

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Exodus 20:1-26 ESV / 45 helpful votes

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ...

Romans 12:14 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Psalm 119:105 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Ephesians 6:1-3 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

1 Peter 3:10 ESV / 42 helpful votes

For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;

Matthew 15:17-19 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Psalm 140:3 ESV / 42 helpful votes

They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah

John 15:13 ESV / 41 helpful votes

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Psalm 12:2 ESV / 41 helpful votes

Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

Proverbs 18:13 ESV / 40 helpful votes

If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.

James 3:2-12 ESV / 38 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. ...

Ephesians 5:22-25 ESV / 38 helpful votes

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Proverbs 31:10-31 ESV / 38 helpful votes

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. ...

Proverbs 10:19 ESV / 38 helpful votes

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

Hebrews 4:12 ESV / 37 helpful votes

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Proverbs 26:20 ESV / 37 helpful votes

For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.

Proverbs 31:28 ESV / 34 helpful votes

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

Romans 3:13-14 ESV / 33 helpful votes

“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

Matthew 5:44 ESV / 32 helpful votes

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Proverbs 13:3 ESV / 31 helpful votes

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

Colossians 2:1-23 ESV / 29 helpful votes

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ...

Matthew 12:36-37 ESV / 29 helpful votes

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Proverbs 18:20 ESV / 29 helpful votes

From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.

Proverbs 11:12 ESV / 28 helpful votes

Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.

Philippians 3:10 ESV / 27 helpful votes

That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Proverbs 26:21 ESV / 26 helpful votes

As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

Matthew 15:11 ESV / 24 helpful votes

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Proverbs 16:27-29 ESV / 24 helpful votes

A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.

Luke 14:7-11 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Genesis 1:21 ESV / 23 helpful votes

So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Proverbs 31:26 ESV / 22 helpful votes

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

1 Peter 3:11 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

James 3:14 ESV / 21 helpful votes

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

Matthew 12:34 ESV / 21 helpful votes

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Proverbs 12:10 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

Colossians 3:16 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Romans 10:9 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Mark 12:34 ESV / 20 helpful votes

And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Mark 9:43-48 ESV / 20 helpful votes

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

Matthew 12:37 ESV / 20 helpful votes

For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

1 Peter 3:15 ESV / 19 helpful votes

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Psalm 120:2-4 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!

Proverbs 21:19 ESV / 18 helpful votes

It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.

Matthew 7:1-29 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. ...

Daniel 4:1-37 ESV / 17 helpful votes

King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. ...

Proverbs 12:1-28 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns. No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved. An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. ...

Proverbs 3:34 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

Psalm 141:1-4 ESV / 17 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! 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!

Romans 8:28 ESV / 16 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Proverbs 12:22 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

Genesis 9:2 ESV / 16 helpful votes

The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.

James 3:13-18 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ...

Luke 10:38-42 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

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