Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power ¹  of the tongue, ²  and those who love its use ³  will eat its fruit.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Those who love to talk will experience the consequences, for the tongue can kill or nourish life.

Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--you choose.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those to whom it is dear will have its fruit for their food.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Death and life are in the power ¹  of the tongue, ²  and those who love its use ³  will eat its fruit.

¹ tn Heb “in the hand of.”

² sn What people say can lead to life or death. The Midrash on Psalms shows one way the tongue [what is said] can cause death: “The evil tongue slays three, the slanderer, the slandered, and the listener” (Midrash Tehillim 52:2). See J. G. Williams, “The Power of Form: A Study of Biblical Proverbs,” Semeia 17 (1980): 35-38.

³ tn The referent of “it” must be the tongue, i.e., what the tongue says (= “its use”). So those who enjoy talking, indulging in it, must “eat” its fruit, whether good or bad. The expression “eating the fruit” is an implied comparison; it means accept the consequences of loving to talk (cf. TEV).