Keraia
Psalm 34

Psalm 34:13

Taste and See That the LORD Is Good · Psalm 34:1–22
Read Psalm 34

Translations

Modern
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.
Traditional
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Literal
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
Latin
Prohibe linguam tuam a malo, et labia tua ne loquantur dolum.

Original

Hebrew
English
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

Notes

Psalms 34:13

Godly people choose their words carefully. Speaking evil and telling lies is unwise (see Psalm 10:7; compare 17:1).

Psalms 34:11–13

Wisdom has three parts:

  1. fearing the Lord (Psalm 34:11),

  2. doing good (Psalm 34:14), and

  3. rejecting evil (Psalm 34:13).

Psalms 34:12–16

Peter quotes this passage in his instructions for peaceful living (1 Peter 3:10–12).

Psalms 34:8–14

The godly encourage everyone to seek wisdom, to fear the Lord, and to place themselves under the protection of the Lord’s angel.

Psalms 34:1–22

This wisdom psalm includes a thanksgiving song of praise (Psalm 34:1–7) that celebrates the Lord for caring for and protecting godly sufferers. It also includes an invitation to wisdom (Psalm 34:8–14) and explains wisdom concerning the Lord’s care for the needy and the suffering of the wicked (Psalm 34:15–22).

Parallels

1 Samuel 21:8–15

Glossary

Acrostic Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (New Testament) Bible, Quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament Confession David Fellowship Music Peter, First Letter of Poetry, Biblical Psalms, Book of Wisdom Literature

Topics

Falsehood: General Scriptures Concerning Lips Longevity: General Scriptures Concerning Profanity Sincerity: Exhortations To Slander: Saints should Keep Their Tongues From Slander: Saints: should Keep Their Tongue From Speaking: Evil Taming your Tongue Using Bad Language