- Proverbs 11:13:
“A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.”
- Proverbs 16:28:
“A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.”
- Proverbs 18:8:
“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.”
- Proverbs 20:19:
“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.”
- Proverbs 26:20:
“Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.”
- Leviticus 19:16:
“‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.”
- Psalm 101:5:
“Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.”
- Proverbs 10:18:
“Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.”
- Proverbs 17:4:
“A wicked person listens to deceitful lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.”
- Proverbs 20:3:
“It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.”
- Proverbs 25:23:
“Like a north wind that brings unexpected rain is a sly tongue—which provokes a horrified look.”
- Matthew 12:36-37:
“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- Romans 1:29-30:
“They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:6:
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
- 1 Timothy 5:13:
“Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to.”
- James 1:26:
“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”
- James 4:11:
“Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.”
- Titus 3:2:
“to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.”
- 1 Peter 2:1:
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”
- 1 Peter 3:10:
“For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.”
- Ephesians 4:29:
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
- Colossians 3:8:
“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:20:
“For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”
- 1 Corinthians 6:10:
“nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
- Psalm 34:13:
“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.”
- Psalm 50:20:
“You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.”
- Psalm 140:11:
“May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent.”
- 1 Timothy 3:11:
“In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.”
- Titus 2:3:
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.”
- 2 Timothy 3:3:
“without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,”
These verses remind us of the destructive power of gossip and slander and urge us to guard our tongues and use our words to build others up rather than tear them down.
