Proverbs 10:20

Modern

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.

Traditional

The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

Literal

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is for little.

Latin

Argentum electum lingua justi; cor autem impiorum pro nihilo.

Hebrew

English

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.

Words express what is in the heart.

Proverbs 12:18
Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Genesis 6:5
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
Matthew 12:34–35
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Proverbs 16:13
Righteous lips are a king’s delight, and he who speaks honestly is beloved.
Proverbs 8:19
My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.
Genesis 8:21
When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
Proverbs 23:7
…for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
Proverbs 25:11–12
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.