Proverbs 17:20

The one who has a perverse heart ¹  does not find good, ²  and the one who is deceitful in speech ³  falls into trouble.

A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.

He who has a crooked mind finds no good, And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.

The crooked heart will not prosper; the twisted tongue tumbles into trouble.

A bad motive can't achieve a good end; double-talk brings you double trouble.

Nothing good comes to him whose heart is fixed on evil purposes: and he who has an evil tongue will come to trouble.

The crooked of mind do not prosper, and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.

He who has a deceitful heart finds no good, And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.

The one who has a perverse heart ¹  does not find good, ²  and the one who is deceitful in speech ³  falls into trouble.

¹ tn The verse parallels two descriptions of the wicked person: “crooked/perverse of heart” (genitive of specification), and “turned away in his tongue” (deceitful). The first phrase describes twisted intentions. The second, using the Niphal participle (“one turned away”) with “tongue,” the metonymy of cause, describes one who has turned away from speaking truth. Cf. NLT “the twisted tongue tumbles into trouble.”

² tn The phrase “does not find good” is a figure (tapeinosis) meaning, “will experience calamity.” The wicked person can expect trouble ahead.

³ tn Heb “tongue”; NIV “whose tongue is deceitful.”