A wicked person listens to malicious talk;[a]
a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:4 Lit to lips of iniquity

An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
    and a liar gives heed to a mischievous tongue.

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20 One with a twisted mind will not succeed,
and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin.(A)

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20 The crooked of mind do not prosper,
    and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.(A)

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19 Better a poor person who lives with integrity(A)
than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool.

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19 Better the poor walking in integrity
    than one perverse of speech who is a fool.(A)

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18 Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,(A)
19 so is the person who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”

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18 Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows,(A)
19 so is one who deceives a neighbor
    and says, “I am only joking!”(B)

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28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
and a flattering mouth causes ruin.

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

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