Power of the Spoken Word

PROVERBS
Put away from you a ^[deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.  Proverbs 4:24

You are snared by the words of your mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth.  Proverbs 6:2

In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.  The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little.  The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom.  Proverbs 10:19-21

The words of the wicked are, “Lie in wait for blood,” but the mouth of the upright will deliver them. The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will come through trouble.  A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. Proverbs 12:6, 13-14

There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.  Proverbs 12:18

A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence. He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.  Proverbs 13:2–3

In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.  Proverbs 14:3

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.  Proverbs 15:1,2,4

The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil. Proverbs 15:28

The wise in heart will be called prudent, and sweetness of the lips increases learning. The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire.  Proverbs 16:21, 23, 24, 27

A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of a talebearer (malicious gossip) are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.  Proverbs 18:7-8

A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.  Proverbs 18:20-21

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue, keeps his soul from troubles.  Proverbs 21:23

Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.   Proverbs 22:17-18

My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.  Proverbs 23:18

Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.  Proverbs 29:20

PSALMS
The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice.  Psalm 37:30

Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.  Psalm 52:2

Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?  Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.  Psalm 34:12-13

Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.  Psalm 103:20

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.  Psalm 141:3,4

OLD TESTAMENT
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Joshua 1:8

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:11-12

NEW TESTAMENT
But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”  Matthew 12:36–37

He said to them, “Hear and understand:  Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”  Mathew 15:10-11

So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?  Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”  Matthew 15:16-20

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”   So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  Mathew 17:14-21

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Matthew 21:21–22

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,

‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  Mark 11:22-24

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”  Luke 6:43-45

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.  Mathew 12:33-37

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  Mathew 21:18-22

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Romans 10:8-10

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.   2 Corinthians 4:13

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  Ephesians 4:29-30

For He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.  1 Peter 3:10

The Untamable Tongue
If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.  Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.  Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.  Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.  See how great a forest a little fire kindles!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.  But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.  Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.    James 3:2-12