Psalm 39^[a]

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

³⁴ You brood of vipers,^(A) how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks^(B) what the heart is full of. ³⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶ But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”^(C)

⁶ The tongue also is a fire,^(A) a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body,^(B) sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.^(C)