Psalms 12:2-4

12:2 People lie to one another; ¹ 

they flatter and deceive. ² 

12:3 May the Lord cut off ³  all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts! ⁴ 

12:4 They say, ⁵  “We speak persuasively; ⁶ 

we know how to flatter and boast. ⁷ 

Who is our master?” ⁸ 

Psalms 41:6-7

41:6 When someone comes to visit, ⁹  he pretends to be friendly; ¹⁰ 

he thinks of ways to defame me, ¹¹ 

and when he leaves he slanders me. ¹² 

41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; ¹³ 

they plan ways to harm me.

Psalms 52:2-4

52:2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans; ¹⁴ 

it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver. ¹⁵ 

52:3 You love evil more than good,

lies more than speaking the truth. ¹⁶  (Selah)

52:4 You love to use all the words that destroy, ¹⁷ 

and the tongue that deceives.

Psalms 59:7

59:7 Look, they hurl insults at me

and openly threaten to kill me, ¹⁸ 

for they say, ¹⁹ 

“Who hears?”

Psalms 59:12

59:12 They speak sinful words. ²⁰ 

So let them be trapped by their own pride

and by the curses and lies they speak!

Psalms 64:3-8

64:3 They ²¹  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ²² 

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent ²³  in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. ²⁴ 

64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. ²⁵ 

They plan how to hide ²⁶  snares,

and boast, ²⁷  “Who will see them?” ²⁸ 

64:6 They devise ²⁹  unjust schemes;

they disguise ³⁰  a well-conceived plot. ³¹ 

Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ³² 

64:7 But God will shoot ³³  at them;

suddenly they will be ³⁴  wounded by an arrow. ³⁵ 

64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. ³⁶ 

All who see them will shudder, ³⁷ 

Psalms 140:5

140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;

evil men ³⁸  spread a net by the path;

they set traps for me. (Selah)

Jeremiah 9:2-5

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ³⁹ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ⁴⁰  of people that has been disloyal to him. ⁴¹ 

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ⁴² 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ⁴³ 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ⁴⁴ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁴⁵ 

and do not pay attention to me. ⁴⁶ 

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ⁴⁷ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ⁴⁸ 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ⁴⁹  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

Acts 5:3

5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled ⁵⁰  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of ⁵¹  the land?

Acts 8:19-23

8:19 saying, “Give me this power ⁵²  too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, ⁵³  because you thought you could acquire ⁵⁴  God’s gift with money! 8:21 You have no share or part ⁵⁵  in this matter ⁵⁶  because your heart is not right before God! 8:22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord ⁵⁷  that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart. ⁵⁸  8:23 For I see that you are bitterly envious ⁵⁹  and in bondage to sin.”

Romans 3:13-14

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ⁶⁰ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ⁶¹ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ⁶²  full of cursing and bitterness.” ⁶³ 

James 3:5-8

3:5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, ⁶⁴  yet it has great pretensions. ⁶⁵  Think ⁶⁶  how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 3:6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents ⁶⁷  the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It ⁶⁸  pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell. ⁶⁹ 

3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature ⁷⁰  is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. ⁷¹  3:8 But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless ⁷²  evil, full of deadly poison.

Jude 1:15

1:15 to execute judgment on ⁷³  all, and to convict every person ⁷⁴  of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds ⁷⁵  that they have committed, ⁷⁶  and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ⁷⁷ 

[12:2]  ¹ tn Heb “falsehood they speak, a man with his neighbor.” The imperfect verb forms in v. 2 describe what is typical in the psalmist’s experience.

[12:2]  ² tn Heb “[with] a lip of smoothness, with a heart and a heart they speak.” Speaking a “smooth” word refers to deceptive flattery (cf. Ps 5:9; 55:21; Prov 2:16; 5:3; 7:5, 21; 26:28; 28:23; Isa 30:10). “Heart” here refers to their mind, from which their motives and intentions originate. The repetition of the noun indicates diversity (see GKC 396 §123.f, IBHS 116 §7.2.3c, and Deut 25:13, where the phrase “weight and a weight” refers to two different measuring weights). These people have two different types of “hearts.” Their flattering words seem to express kind motives and intentions, but this outward display does not really reflect their true motives. Their real “heart” is filled with evil thoughts and destructive intentions. The “heart” that is seemingly displayed through their words is far different from the real “heart” they keep disguised. (For the idea see Ps 28:3.) In 1 Chr 12:33 the phrase “without a heart and a heart” means “undivided loyalty.”

[12:3]  ³ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

[12:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”

[12:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “which say.” The plural verb after the relative pronoun indicates a plural antecedent for the pronoun, probably “lips” in v. 3.

[12:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “to our tongue we make strong.” The Hiphil of גָבַר (gavar) occurs only here and in Dan 9:27, where it refers to making strong, or confirming, a covenant. Here in Ps 12 the evildoers “make their tongue strong” in the sense that they use their tongue to produce flattering and arrogant words to accomplish their purposes. The preposition -לְ (l) prefixed to “our tongue” may be dittographic.

[12:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “our lips [are] with us.” This odd expression probably means, “our lips are in our power,” in the sense that they say what they want, whether it be flattery or boasting. For other cases where אֵת (’et, “with”) has the sense “in the power of,” see Ps 38:10 and other texts listed by BDB 86 s.v. 3.a.

[12:4]  ⁸ sn The rhetorical question expresses the arrogant attitude of these people. As far as they are concerned, they are answerable to no one for how they speak.

[41:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “to see.”

[41:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”

[41:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”

[41:6]  ¹² tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”

[41:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “together against me they whisper, all those who hate me.” The Hitpael of לָחַשׁ (lakhash) refers here to whispering to one another (see 2 Sam 12:19).

[52:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “destruction your tongue devises.”

[52:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like a sharpened razor, doer of deceit.” The masculine participle עָשָׂה (’asah) is understood as a substantival vocative, addressed to the powerful man.

[52:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “deceit more than speaking what is right.”

[52:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118 s.v. בָּלַע). HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion.” This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.

[59:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “look, they gush forth with their mouth, swords [are] in their lips.”

[59:7]  ¹⁹ tn The words “for they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The following question (“Who hears?”) is spoken by the psalmist’s enemies, who are confident that no one else can hear their threats against the psalmist. They are aggressive because they feel the psalmist is vulnerable and has no one to help him.

[59:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”

[64:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3]  ²² tn Heb “a bitter word.”

[64:4]  ²³ tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

[64:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[64:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”

[64:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they report about hiding.”

[64:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they say.”

[64:5]  ²⁸ tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).

[64:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”

[64:6]  ³⁰ tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).

[64:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.

[64:6]  ³² tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.

[64:7]  ³³ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.

[64:7]  ³⁴ tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.

[64:7]  ³⁵ tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[64:8]  ³⁶ tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.

[64:8]  ³⁷ tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.

[140:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).

[9:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[9:3]  ⁴² tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

[9:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

[9:4]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[9:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.

[5:3]  ⁵⁰ sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).

[5:3]  ⁵¹ tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.

[8:19]  ⁵² tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”

[8:20]  ⁵³ tn Grk “May your silver together with you be sent into destruction.” This is a strong curse. The gifts of God are sovereignly bestowed and cannot be purchased.

[8:20]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “obtain.”

[8:21]  ⁵⁵ tn The translation “share or part” is given by L&N 63.13.

[8:21]  ⁵⁶ tn Since the semantic range for λόγος (logos) is so broad, a number of different translations could be given for the prepositional phrase here. Something along the lines of “in this thing” would work well, but is too colloquial for the present translation.

[8:22]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “and implore the Lord.”

[8:22]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “that if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in contemporary English and has thus been converted to an active construction in the translation.

[8:23]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “in the gall of bitterness,” an idiom meaning to be particularly envious or resentful of someone. In this case Simon was jealous of the apostles’ power to bestow the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, and wanted that power for himself. The literal phrase does not convey this to the modern reader, and in fact some modern translations have simply rendered the phrase as involving bitterness, which misses the point of the envy on Simon’s part. See L&N 88.166. The OT images come from Deut 29:17-18 and Isa 58:6.

[3:13]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ⁶¹ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ⁶² tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ⁶³ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “a small member.”

[3:5]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “boasts of great things.”

[3:5]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “Behold.”

[3:6]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “makes itself,” “is made.”

[3:6]  ⁶⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:6]  ⁶⁹ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[3:7]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk (plurals), “every kind of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures.”

[3:7]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “the human species.”

[3:8]  ⁷² tc Most mss (C Ψ 1739^c Ï as well as a few versions and fathers) read “uncontrollable” (ἀκατασχετόν, akatasceton), while the most important witnesses (א A B K P 1739* latt) have “restless” (ἀκατάστατον, akatastaton). Externally, the latter reading should be preferred. Internally, however, things get a bit more complex. The notion of being uncontrollable is well suited to the context, especially as a counterbalance to v. 8a, though for this very reason scribes may have been tempted to replace ἀκατάστατον with ἀκατασχετόν. However, in a semantically parallel early Christian text, ἀκατάστατος (akatastato") was considered strong enough of a term to denounce slander as “a restless demon” (Herm. 27:3). On the other hand, ἀκατάστατον may have been substituted for ἀκατασχετόν by way of assimilation to 1:8 (especially since both words were relatively rare, scribes may have replaced the less familiar with one that was already used in this letter). On internal evidence, it is difficult to decide, though ἀκατασχετόν is slightly preferred. However, in light of the strong support for ἀκατάστατον, and the less-than-decisive internal evidence, ἀκατάστατον is preferred instead.

[1:15]  ⁷³ tn Grk “against” (κατά [kata] + genitive). English usage is satisfied with “on” at this point, but the parallel is lost in the translation to some degree, for the end of v. 15 says that this judgment is meted out on these sinners because they spoke against him (κατά + genitive).

[1:15]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “soul.”

[1:15]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “of all their works of ungodliness.” The adverb “thoroughly” is part of the following verb “have committed.” See note on verb “committed” later in this verse.

[1:15]  ⁷⁶ tn The verb in Greek does not simply mean “have committed,” but “have committed in an ungodly way.” The verb ἀσεβέω (asebew) is cognate to the noun ἀσέβεια (asebeia, “ungodliness”). There is no easy way to express this in English, since English does not have a single word that means the same thing. Nevertheless, the tenor of v. 15 is plainly seen, regardless of the translation.

[1:15]  ⁷⁷ sn An apparent quotation from 1 En. 1:9. There is some doubt as to whether Jude is actually quoting from the text of 1 Enoch; the text here in Jude differs in some respects from the extant text of this pseudepigraphic book. It is sometimes suggested that Jude may instead have been quoting from oral tradition which had roots older than the written text.