15 A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath,
But harsh and painful and careless words stir up anger.^(A)
2 
The tongue of the wise speaks knowledge that is pleasing and acceptable,
But the [babbling] mouth of fools spouts folly.

⁴ 
A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life,
But a perversive tongue [speaking words that overwhelm and depress] crushes the spirit.

⁷ 
The lips of the wise spread knowledge [sifting it as chaff from the grain];
But the hearts of [shortsighted] fools are not so.

²³ 
A man has joy in giving an appropriate answer,
And how good and delightful is a word spoken at the right moment—how good it is!

²⁶ 
Evil plans and thoughts of the wicked are exceedingly vile and offensive to the Lord,
But pure words are pleasant words to Him.