Proverbs 13:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 From the fruit of the mouth one enjoys good things,(A)
but from the throat of the treacherous comes violence.[a]
3 Those who guard their mouths preserve themselves;[b]
those who open wide their lips bring ruin.(B)
4 The appetite of the sluggard craves but has nothing,
but the appetite of the diligent is amply satisfied.
Footnotes
- 13:2 One’s mouth normally eats food from outside, but in the moral life, things are reversed: one eats from the fruit of one’s mouth, i.e., one experiences the consequences of one’s own actions. Since the mouth of the treacherous is filled with violence, one must assume that they will some day endure violence.
- 13:3 Preserve themselves: in Hebrew, literally to preserve the throat area, the moist breathing center of one’s body, thus “life,” “soul,” or “self.” There is wordplay: if you guard your mouth (= words) you guard your “soul.” Fools, on the other hand, do not guard but open their lips and disaster strikes. A near duplicate is 21:23.
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