Proverbs 16:23

A wise person’s heart ¹  makes his speech wise ²  and it adds persuasiveness ³  to his words. ⁴ 

A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.

The heart of the wise instructs his mouth And adds persuasiveness to his lips.

From a wise mind comes wise speech; the words of the wise are persuasive.

They make a lot of sense, these wise folks; whenever they speak, their reputation increases.

The heart of the wise man is the teacher of his mouth, and gives increased learning to his lips.

The mind of the wise makes their speech judicious, and adds persuasiveness to their lips.

The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And adds learning to his lips.

A wise person’s heart ¹  makes his speech wise ²  and it adds persuasiveness ³  to his words. ⁴ 

¹ tn Or “mind” (cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT).

² tn Heb “makes wise his mouth,” with “mouth” being a metonymy of cause for what is said: “speech.”

³ sn Those who are wise say wise things. The proverb uses synthetic parallelism: The first line asserts that the wise heart ensures that what is said is wise, and the second line adds that such a person increases the reception of what is said.

⁴ tn Heb “to his lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.