A Biblical Perspective of Speech

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence” (Proverbs 10:11, ESV).

The wisdom tradition of Israel locates immense moral, spiritual, and communal significance in human speech. The proverb cited above, sometimes mistakenly referenced as Proverbs 10:1, stands at Proverbs 10:11 in the English Standard Version and articulates a theology of language that spans the canon. It does more than commend polite conversation. It envisions speech as a conduit through which divine vitality is mediated or, in the case of the wicked, masked malice finds expression. In what follows, this post offers an exegetical and theological exploration of Proverbs 10:11 in its Hebrew texture, traces its canonical resonance across the Scriptures, and draws out practical implications for those within the Church who would seek to speak life, that is, to practice edifying speech that accords with the Gospel.

The Text and Its Parallelism

Proverbs 10 inaugurates the large Solomonic collection of two-line sayings characterized by antithetic parallelism. Proverbs 10:11 presents a classic contrast, not primarily between two statements about speech in the abstract, but between two kinds of persons whose speech reveals their moral character. Hebrew poetry typically advances its argument through parallelism that is semantic rather than merely rhythmic. The first colon declares, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,” while the second colon contrasts, “but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” The parallel subjects, “the mouth of the righteous” and “the mouth of the wicked,” underscore that the difference in speech flows from a difference in character, a point Jesus would restate with characteristic clarity: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, ESV).

This antithetical pairing highlights two functions of speech. Speech can be life-generating and restorative, or it can be a slim covering for destructive intent. Solomon refuses a neutral zone. The proverb insists that words either mediate life or manipulate toward harm. The canonical Scriptures present this dual-lane moral roadway repeatedly: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (Proverbs 18:21, ESV).

Exegeting the Hebrew: Key Terms and Phrases

“Mouth” and Moral Agency: peh

The Hebrew noun peh (“mouth”) functions metonymically for speech. The “mouth” represents the site of articulation, but more profoundly, it is the portal through which the inner human self overflows into the social world. That is why the Psalmist prays, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14, ESV). The prayer aligns the “mouth” with the “heart,” recognizing their integral connection. The “mouth” is not autonomous. It executes the will and condition of the inner person.

“Righteous” tsaddiq

The term tsaddiq (“righteous”) denotes one who is aligned with God’s covenantal order, a person who lives in fidelity to God, neighbor, and creation. In wisdom literature, the tsaddiq is not an abstract legal status alone, though it can be forensic in other Biblical contexts. Rather, it signifies a person whose daily conduct accords with God’s design. The tsaddiq is a person in whom the fear of the LORD, the knowledge of God, and the practice of justice and compassion converge. Such a person, this proverb declares, has a “mouth” that functions as a life-giving spring.

“Fountain of Life” meqor chayyim

The phrase meqor chayyim translates “fountain of life,” and it is the theological center of the verse. The noun meqor denotes a spring, well, or source of water, the place from which water bubbles up from underground reserves. In an ancient Near Eastern context, a spring meant survival, fruitfulness, and joy. Israel’s poets exploit this physical reality to speak of spiritual vitality. The “fountain of life” is a recurring image in Proverbs and the Psalms. “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death” (Proverbs 13:14, ESV). “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27, ESV). “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9, ESV). In each case, the fountain metaphor ties life to divine wisdom, reverence for God, and God’s own presence.

In Proverbs 10:11, the righteous person’s mouth itself becomes such a spring. That is a striking anthropological claim, for it implies that when a righteous person speaks, the effect is analogous to water in a thirsty land. The speech of the righteous does not merely entertain or inform. It nurtures, revives, and protects. The fountain image carries the ideas of constancy and overflow. A spring is not a bucket filled once and emptied. It continually surges because it is connected to a deeper source. Righteous speech is sustained by a well deeper than the self. It is rooted in the fear of the LORD, saturated in the Word of God, and animated by the Spirit

“Wicked” rashaʿ

The term rashaʿ (“wicked”) designates those who actively oppose or ignore God’s moral order. In Proverbs, the wicked are not merely morally neutral or mildly misguided. They participate in violence, deceit, and injustice. The plural “wicked” in Hebrew often functions generically and characterologically. Their speech, the proverb declares, is not an open spring but a lid pulled over corrosive content.

“Conceals” and “Violence” yekasseh chamas

The verb yekasseh (“conceals,” from the root k-s-h) means to cover, hide, or conceal. The object chamas (“violence”) denotes more than physical brutality. The term can describe wrong, injustice, malicious harm, or social injury. It appears, for example, in Genesis 6:11, “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (ESV). When paired with the verb “conceal,” the phrase describes speech that is a veneer. The “mouth of the wicked” does not immediately display its devastating content. It covers it. Wicked speech is performative disguise, social camouflage designed to mask injurious intent and to smuggle malice into the community under the cover of words.

There is a minor translation divergence reflected in English versions. Some render the clause “violence covers the mouth of the wicked,” while the ESV reads, “the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” The underlying Hebrew can bear either syntactic arrangement, although the ESV’s reading foregrounds the mouth as the acting subject that hides violence. Either way, the theological point remains: the speech of the wicked is allied with harm, whether as the instrument that hides it or as the site where violence itself rests. The righteous mouth is a spring that gives. The wicked mouth is a lid that hides.

Canonical Resonances and the Wisdom Ethic of Speech

The proverb’s imagery resonates with a symphony of texts on speech throughout Proverbs. These echoes expand the semantic field of “fountain of life.”

First, the power of speech to heal and harm is articulated in Proverbs 12:18, “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (ESV). Notice that “tongue,” another metonym for speech, becomes an instrument of medicinal restoration. The contrast sits comfortably with the fountain metaphor. Righteous words irrigate, soothe, and heal. Wicked words lacerate.

Second, Proverbs 15:1 states, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (ESV). Righteous speech de-escalates conflict. It introduces fresh water into a fire. Wicked words, by contrast, add fuel. Similarly, Proverbs 15:4, “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit” (ESV), places speech in proximity to the Garden’s “tree of life” motif, reinforcing the organic and restorative quality of edifying words.

Third, Proverbs 16:24 presents a sensory portrait: “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body” (ESV). In agrarian Israel, honey was both a luxury and a source of nourishment. Grace-filled speech tastes good, satisfies, and strengthens. When Proverbs 18:4 adds, “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook” (ESV), the theme crystallizes. The righteous do not hoard life. Through speech, they channel it.

In sharp contrast, the wicked manipulate. Proverbs 26:24 warns, “Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart” (ESV). The wicked mouth may appear smooth, even virtuous. Yet it “conceals violence.” This is the language of duplicity. The heart and the mouth are out of joint. The mouth is a mask. The fountain image is reversed. Instead of refreshing water, the hidden aquifer is sewage. The moral hazard is clear. Communities that prize eloquence without examining character become susceptible to concealed violence.

Jesus and the Apostolic Witness on Edifying Speech

The New Testament receives the wisdom tradition’s doctrine of speech and intensifies it under the lordship of Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit. Jesus locates the locus of speech decisively in the heart: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, ESV). In the same discourse, He adds solemn gravity, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37, ESV). Words do not evaporate. They are moral artifacts that will be part of the eschatological reckoning.

Jesus’ own words are paradigmatic, not only ethically but salvifically. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63, ESV). Here, the “fountain of life” finds its ultimate source. Christ’s words communicate life because He Himself is Life. His speech heals, forgives, convicts, and raises the dead. The Church’s speech becomes a derivative spring when it is saturated with the Word of Christ. Paul therefore exhorts the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16, ESV), and only then speaks of their mutual teaching and admonition, which presumes speech that is filled with Scripture, wisdom, and gratitude.

The apostolic paraenesis on speech is explicit. Ephesians 4:29 provides perhaps the clearest New Testament appropriation of Proverbs 10:11, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (ESV). The term “corrupting” translates a word used of rotten fruit or decaying fish. Such words stink, spread decay, and destroy. The alternative is “building up,” the language of edification. The Greek noun oikodomē denotes the constructive strengthening of the community, analogous to erecting a house. Words are bricks or acids. There is no neutral speech in the Church. Each utterance either contributes to a stable structure or erodes it.

Paul complements this in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (ESV). Grace-filled words are not merely gentle. They are seasoned, apt, and tailored. They deliver the grace of God to the hearer. Further, in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Paul writes, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (ESV). The verbal ministry of encouragement is part of the Church’s ordinary life.

James, echoing wisdom traditions, presents a sustained meditation on the tongue’s power and peril in James 3:1–12. He insists that though the tongue is small, it “boasts of great things” (James 3:5, ESV). It can set forests ablaze. His conclusion is full of moral astonishment: “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:10, ESV). James vividly demonstrates the impossibility of a fountain that yields both fresh and salt water. The inner spring determines the output. This returns us to Proverbs 10:11. A righteous mouth and a wicked mouth are not the same spring. The fundamental transformation required is regenerative, not cosmetic.

Finally, the New Testament connects the life-giving character of words to the Gospel’s proclamation. Speech is not only ethics. It is also the instrument of salvation’s announcement. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” and “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:9 and 10:17, ESV). Speech becomes the plumbing through which God’s life flows to the lost. Thus, speaking life is not merely a therapeutic technique. It is a Gospel imperative.

Theological Synthesis: Speech as a Sacramental Conduit of Wisdom

To call the mouth of the righteous a “fountain of life” is to frame human speech as a sacramental conduit in the broad sense. The righteous mouth, engaged by the Spirit, becomes a public means by which God’s wisdom is communicated, comfort is given, and communal health is sustained. Theologically, several lines converge.

First, the doctrine of creation. Humans are created in the image of God, and God is a speaking God. Divine speech calls worlds into existence, orders chaos, and blesses. When human speech aligns with God’s moral order, it mirrors God’s creative speech by building up, ordering, and blessing. Thus, when the righteous speak with wisdom, they participate in God’s creational intent.

Second, the doctrine of redemption. The Gospel is news that is preached, heard, believed, and confessed. Edifying speech in the Church echoes and adorns the Gospel. Words that accord with the truth of Christ validate the transformative power of grace in communities. Conversely, words that conceal violence deny the Gospel’s ethical fruit.

Third, the doctrine of sanctification. Growth in holiness manifests in bridled speech. James asserts that anyone who does not stumble in what he says is “a perfect man” (James 3:2, ESV), not because perfection is attainable in this age, but to underscore that sanctified speech is a mature fruit of the Spirit’s work. This aligns with Paul’s instruction to “speak the truth in love” that “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15, ESV). Speaking life is evidence of spiritual maturity.

Original Language Insights for Pastoral Practice

Exegetical precision serves practical holiness when it clarifies how we may speak life.

The Spring’s Source and Overflow

The phrase meqor chayyim invites the question of source. Springs flow because of subterranean pressure. Righteous speech requires inner saturation with God’s Word. The Psalter frames this through meditation: “His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2, ESV). Jesus ties speech to heart abundance. The remedy for speech that is sparse in grace is not primarily technique, but renewed treasure in the heart. Fill the underground cavern with Scripture, and the spring will rise.

The Covering of Violence and Discernment

The verb yekasseh alerts us to the phenomenon of rhetorical disguises. Not all pleasant speech is righteous, and not all firm speech is violent. Wisdom in the Church requires discernment about what speech hides. At times, harmful speech is deployed in religious idiom and even appears to defend truth. Proverbs 26:24 cautions against such duplicity. Pastors and leaders must train congregations to assess speech by its fruit and by its fidelity to the Gospel, not by its polish.

The Moral Density of chamas

The word chamas presses beyond physical harm to describe injustice, exploitation, and relational damage. Words can perpetrate chamas by character assassination, by spreading false witness, by flattering to manipulate, or by withholding needed truth out of self-protection. Conversely, righteous speech attends to justice by advocating for the vulnerable, by refusing gossip, and by naming wrongs with charity and courage. The fountain of life does not mean saccharine positivity. It means speech that protects and nourishes life as God defines it.

Practices for a Community that Speaks Life

If the proverb is to become more than a plaque on a wall, congregations require concrete practices that cultivate life-giving speech. The following practices flow from the Biblical witness and serve the formation of a righteous mouth.

Scripture Saturation and the Rule of Life

Establish communal rhythms of Scripture intake. Reading, hearing, memorizing, and praying the Bible create subterranean reservoirs from which the spring of speech emerges. Households and small groups can adopt a simple rule: before we speak to one another, we have listened to God that day. The result is that the Word of Christ “dwells richly” and spills over in instruction, encouragement, and song (Colossians 3:16, ESV).

Confession and Repentance for Words

Jesus declares that we will give account for careless words. A community that speaks life will also repent of speech that has wounded. Make corporate confession of sins of speech a regular practice. Encourage private confession and reconciliation when words have inflicted harm. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18, ESV) applies to speech. Confession unclogs the spring.

Silence as a Spiritual Discipline

The fountain image may suggest constant flow, but wisdom also teaches restraint. “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Proverbs 10:19, ESV). Strategic silence protects against reactive speech that damages. Silence is not passivity. It is a practice of reverent listening. It gives time for prayer, for checking motives, and for choosing words that build up.

Blessing as Ordinary Speech

The Aaronic blessing models life-giving words: “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24–26, ESV). The Church should recover the practice of blessing. Parents bless children. Congregants bless one another. Leaders bless congregations. To bless is not to flatter. It is to invoke God’s favor and to align speech with God’s promises.

Truth in Love, Not Flattery or Harshness

Ephesians 4:15 requires truth and love together. Truth without love can bludgeon. Love without truth can deceive. The righteous mouth threads the path of honest, compassionate speech. This balance is especially important in contexts of correction or confrontation. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6, ESV). Concealed violence often arrives in the form of flattering “kisses.” Life-giving wounds arrive in the form of candid words from a faithful friend.

Digital Speech and Public Witness

In contemporary life, “the mouth” includes keyboards and screens. Social media multiplies the reach of speech and erases helpful pauses. The Church must apply Proverbs 10:11 to digital discipleship. Before posting, ask three questions rooted in Ephesians 4:29. Will this give grace to those who hear or read. Is it apt for the occasion. Will it build up. Before sharing, weigh James 1:19, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (ESV). The righteous mouth online is still a fountain, not a fire hydrant.

Case Studies in Edifying Speech

Pastoral Care

A member is grieving a profound loss. The righteous mouth does not reach for clichés or thin assurances. It speaks Scripture that is true and tender. “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18, ESV). It gives space for lament and prays words that hold the sufferer before God. This is a fountain for a desert soul. It does not conceal violence behind pious platitudes. It refrains from speculating about God’s secret will and instead blesses, comforts, and accompanies.

Conflict Reconciliation

Two leaders in a ministry are at odds. The righteous mouth avoids gossip. It refuses to weaponize private information. It speaks directly to the person with grace and clarity, following Matthew 18’s pattern of private correction escalating to communal involvement as needed. “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1, ESV) guides the tone, while “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15, ESV) guides the content. The outcome is not always agreement, but the process itself is a stream of life in a dry relational landscape.

Teaching and Preaching

A teacher presenting difficult doctrine resists polemical caricature. The righteous mouth expounds the Bible faithfully and applies it wisely. It names sin unflinchingly and announces grace boldly. It avoids slander against opponents. The words used in the pulpit model how the congregation should speak at home and in public. The aim is that “by sound doctrine” we “teach what accords with sound doctrine” and “rebuke those who contradict it” with patience and love, so that the Church is built up and the Gospel is adorned.

Evangelism and Apologetics

When Christians give a reason for the hope within, they do so “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV). The righteous mouth does not conceal violence by wielding rhetoric to humiliate a questioner. It remembers that the goal is life. The fountain of life pours out Gospel words that are true and tender, inviting, clarifying, and beckoning toward Christ.

Guarding the Spring: Warnings and Diagnostics

Beware of Concealed Violence

Wicked speech may arrive dressed in religious language. It may pose as zeal for truth while crushing people. It may appear as humor that degrades, sarcasm that shames, or gossip that masquerades as concern. The Church must develop instincts that sniff out chamas. Ask what fruit this speech produces. Does it heal or harm, unite or fracture, protect the vulnerable or expose them, elevate the speaker or exalt Christ. If the fruit is injury, violence may be concealed beneath pious diction.

Diagnose the Heart

Since the mouth reveals the heart, chronic patterns of harmful speech call for heart examination. Jesus invites us to discern the treasure we have stored. If our words are consistently harsh, cynical, or self-exalting, the cure is not rhetorical adjustment alone. It is repentance and renewed delight in Christ. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, ESV) becomes the prayer that readies the spring.

Cultivate Empathy and Patience

The righteous mouth grows in patience. “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding” (Proverbs 14:29, ESV). Slowness to anger slows the tongue. Empathy restrains the impulse to score points. The righteous mouth seeks to understand before it answers. It asks questions, listens carefully, and then speaks words tailored to the person and the moment, “as fits the occasion” (Ephesians 4:29, ESV).

The Christological Fulfillment of Life-giving Speech

Jesus Christ is the perfectly righteous one whose mouth is the fountain of life without remainder. His words do not only describe life. They generate life. When He says, “Lazarus, come out,” the dead obey (John 11:43–44, ESV). When He pronounces forgiveness, sins are actually forgiven. When He blesses children, they are truly blessed. Christ, therefore, becomes not only the exemplar of life-giving speech, but the source that transforms our mouths. Union with Christ by the Spirit enables the Church to speak as He speaks. The fruit of the Spirit includes kindness and gentleness, virtues that shape the tone and content of our words.

Moreover, the Gospel reframes the ethics of speech under grace. Because believers are justified by faith in Christ, they are freed from the need to justify themselves in conversation. They need not protect ego by tearing down others. They can admit wrong, confess sin, ask forgiveness, and forgive, because their identity is secure in Christ. The fountain flows because the subterranean aquifer is grace.

Practical Liturgies of Speech for the Church

The Church can order its life so that edifying speech is both taught and caught.

Call and Response from Scripture. Begin gatherings with spoken Scripture. The call to worship, corporate readings, and psalmody habituate the mouth to holy diction. Over time, Scripture becomes the default vocabulary of the community.

Corporate Confession and Assurance. Regularly confess sins of speech and receive the spoken assurance of pardon grounded in Christ’s work. This weekly rhythm trains congregants to repent quickly and to believe God’s Word more than the accusations of the enemy.

Testimonies of Grace. Invite edifying testimonies that magnify Christ rather than the speaker. Words of thanksgiving multiply gratitude and model how to speak about God’s work without self-aggrandizement.

Benedictions and Blessings. End services and small group meetings with spoken blessings. The repeated reception of benediction forms both expectation and imitation. People who are regularly blessed are more likely to bless others.

Catechesis on Speech. Teach young and old alike the wisdom texts on the tongue, connect them to Ephesians and James, and practice scenarios of gracious speech. Role-playing difficult conversations in light of Scripture can form instincts of gentleness and truth.

Addressing Common Objections

Some object that edifying speech risks sentimentality or compromises truth. Scripture refuses this dichotomy. Speaking life is not speaking lies. The righteous mouth speaks truth, and truth is life-giving. Jesus is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, ESV). Others suggest that strong denunciation is sometimes required. Scripture agrees. Prophets and apostles at times rebuke sharply. Yet even rebuke aims at restoration and good. Paul commands Timothy to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2, ESV). The presence of rebuke in Scripture does not justify cruelty. It demands love-soaked clarity.

A second objection argues that the fountain metaphor seems naïve in contexts of oppression or abuse. Should not the Church name injustice forcefully? It should, and life-giving speech often requires bold advocacy. The fountain of life is not a trickle of niceness. It is living water that erodes injustice and irrigates righteousness. The Bible’s writers do not muzzle prophets. They channel their speech toward edification, protection of the vulnerable, and the glory of God.

A Pastoral Diagnostic and Rule

As a practical tool for spiritual formation, consider the following diagnostic rooted in Proverbs 10:11 and Ephesians 4:29. Before speaking, ask:

Is what I am about to say true according to Scripture and reality.

Is it loving toward God and neighbor, seeking their good not my vindication.

Is it apt for this moment, given this person’s condition and the context.

Will it build up the hearer and the community.

Have I prayed, even briefly, for the person who will hear it.

As a simple rule of life: speak Scripture often, confess quickly when you sin with words, practice silence when anger spikes, bless intentionally, and rehearse the Gospel to your own heart daily so that your mouth will overflow with grace.

Returning to the Fountain, Prayer and Hope

The Church needs words that bring life, because the world is parched. The righteous mouth, by God’s grace, can be a fountain, not because we are eloquent, but because we are connected to the Source. The psalmist’s prayer is a fitting conclusion and daily petition: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14, ESV). The prayer does not aim for verbal perfection. It seeks alignment between the heart and the mouth under the gaze of God. When the heart is renewed in Christ and the mouth is submitted to the Spirit, speech becomes sacramental. It carries life into classrooms, boardrooms, living rooms, and sanctuaries.

The Ethics of Speech as Witness

Proverbs 10:11 is a summons and a promise. It summons the people of God to refuse complicity in words that conceal violence. It promises that the mouth of the righteous, shaped by the wisdom of God, can be a fountain of life in a land riddled with deserts. When Christians speak, the world should taste honey and hear truth. They should experience words that are gracious and seasoned, apt and strengthening, truthful and tender. Such speech will distinguish the Church as a people who have been with Jesus.

Tested by the canon, anchored in Christ, and empowered by the Spirit, let us therefore commit our mouths to the ministry of life. Let us resolve, in our homes, friendships, congregational life, and public engagement, to let no corrupting talk come out of our mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29, ESV). Let us bless and not curse, “for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9, ESV). Let us be springs in the desert, fountains in the city, wells in the countryside, people whose words refresh the weary and guard the weak.

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence” (Proverbs 10:11, ESV). May God make our mouths righteous through the righteousness of Christ, may He cleanse our hearts so that our words overflow with life, and may He use our speech to carry the Gospel to the nations and edify His Church until the day when every word is weighed, every wound is healed. Every blessing reaches its consummation in the presence of the Lord, who is Himself the Fountain of Life.