Proverbs 26:23
Ardent lips, and a wicked heart, are [as] an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross.
Darby Translation
In The King James Version
Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.
In Context
24He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, but he layeth up deceit within him:
Cross References
Proverbs 10:18He that covereth hatred hath lying lips, and he that sendeth forth a slander is a fool.
Proverbs 25:4Take away the dross from the silver, and there cometh forth a vessel for the refiner:
Ezekiel 33:31And they come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but they do them not; for with their mouth they shew much love, [but] their heart goeth after their dishonest gain.
Luke 11:39But the Lord said to him, Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inward [parts] are full of plunder and wickedness.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 26:21-23
20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. 21 As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife. 22 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Contention is as a fire; it heats the spirit, burns up all that is good, and puts families and societies into a flame. Now here we are told how that fire is commonly kindled and kept burning, that we may avoid the occasions… Read the whole commentary →