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

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An evildoer pays attention to wicked lips.
A liar feeds upon[a] a destructive tongue.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:4 Hebrew variant listens to

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

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20 A crooked mind does not find good.
A perverted tongue will fall into disaster.

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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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19 Better to be a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one with perverse lips who is a fool.

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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 A person who deceives his neighbor and then says, “I was only joking,”
19 is like a madman who shoots firebrands and deadly arrows.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:19 Elements of verses 18 and 19 were rearranged to get smooth English word order.

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

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

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