Proverbs 21:23

The one who guards his mouth and his tongue ¹  keeps his life ²  from troubles. ³ 

He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

He who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles.

If you keep your mouth shut, you will stay out of trouble.

Watch your words and hold your tongue; you'll save yourself a lot of grief.

He who keeps watch over his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble.

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles.

The one who guards his mouth and his tongue ¹  keeps his life ²  from troubles. ³ 

¹ sn “Mouth” and “tongue” are metonymies of cause, signifying what one says (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).

² tn This part could also be translated “keeps himself” (so NIV), for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) often simply means “the whole person.” The participle שֹׁמֵר (shomer) is repeated from the first line in the parallelism – to guard what is said is to guard against difficulty.

³ sn The “troubles” (צָרוֹת, tsarot) here could refer to social and legal difficulties into which careless talk might bring someone (e.g., 13:3; 18:21). The word means “a strait, a bind, difficulty.” Careless and free talking could get the person into a tight spot.