Discipline of the Tongue c

7 Listen, my children, to instruction concerning the mouth;

the one who observes it will never be caught.

8 Sinners are overtaken through their lips;

by them the reviler and the arrogant are tripped up.

9 Do not accustom your mouth to oaths,

nor habitually utter the name of the Holy One;

10 for as a servant who is constantly under scrutiny

will not lack bruises,

so also the person who always swears and utters the Name

will never be cleansedd from sin.

11 The one who swears many oaths is full of iniquity,

and the scourge will not leave his house.

If he swears in error, his sin remains on him,

and if he disregards it, he sins doubly;

if he swears a false oath, he will not be justified,

for his house will be filled with calamities.

Foul Language

12 There is a manner of speaking comparable to death;e

may it never be found in the inheritance of Jacob!

Such conduct will be far from the godly,

and they will not wallow in sins.

13 Do not accustom your mouth to coarse, foul language,

for it involves sinful speech.

14 Remember your father and mother

when you sit among the great,

or you may forget yourself in their presence,

and behave like a fool through bad habit;

then you will wish that you had never been born,

and you will curse the day of your birth.

15 Those who are accustomed to using abusive language

will never become disciplined as long as they live.