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The New Revised Standard Version
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Against Loose Talk

4 One who trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,

and one who sins does wrong to himself.

5 One who rejoices in wickednessb will be condemned,c

6 but one who hates gossip has less evil.

7 Never repeat a conversation,

and you will lose nothing at all.

8 With friend or foe do not report it,

and unless it would be a sin for you, do not reveal it;

9 for someone may have heard you and watched you,

and in time will hate you.

10 Have you heard something? Let it die with you.

Be brave, it will not make you burst!

11 Having heard something, the fool suffers birth pangs

like a woman in labor with a child.

12 Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh,

so is gossip inside a fool.

13 Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it;

or if he did, so that he may not do it again.

14 Question a neighbor; perhaps he did not say it;

or if he said it, so that he may not repeat it.

15 Question a friend, for often it is slander;

so do not believe everything you hear.

16 A person may make a slip without intending it.

Who has not sinned with his tongue?

17 Question your neighbor before you threaten him;

and let the law of the Most High take its course.d

NRSV

About The New Revised Standard Version

The original Revised Standard Version served as a standard for nearly forty years. The New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha maintains the traditions of the older version with fresh new vocabulary and modern English construction.

Copyright

Up to five hundred (500) verses of The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible text may be quoted or reprinted without the express written permission of the publisher, provided that the verses quoted neither amount to a complete book of the Bible nor account for 50% or more of the written text of the total work in which they are quoted.

When the NRSV text is quoted, notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page of the work as follows:

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

When quotations from the NRSV text are used in a non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, the initials (NRSV) may be used at the end of each quotation.

Quotations or reprints in excess of five hundred (500) verses (as well as other permissions requests) must be approved in writing by the NRSV Permissions Office, The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115-0050.

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