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

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Whoever practices evil pays attention to wicked speech,
    and the liar listens to malicious talk.

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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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20 The person whose mind[a] is perverse does not find good,
    and anyone with perverted speech falls into trouble.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:20 Lit. heart

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

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The Priorities of Life Contrasted

19 A poor man who walks blamelessly is better
than a fool who speaks perversely.

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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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18 Like the maniac who shoots
    fiery darts and deadly arrows—
19 that’s what someone is like who lies to his neighbor
    and then says, “I was joking, wasn’t I?”

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

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

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