¹⁸ But ^(A)what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

^34 (A)You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, ^(B)when you are evil? ^(C)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

⁶ And ^(A)the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^(B)staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,^[a] and set on fire by hell.^{[b] 7} For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^(C)full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^(D)who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,^[c] these things ought not to be so.

^11 (A)it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you.

²² He said to him, ^(A)‘I will condemn you with your own words, ^(B)you wicked servant! You knew that I was ^(C)a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?