Proverbs 16:27
A worthless man devises mischief. His speech is like a scorching fire.
World English Bible British
In The King James Version
An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.
In Context
26The appetite of the labouring man labours for him, for his mouth urges him on.
28A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.
Cross References
2 Samuel 20:1There happened to be there a wicked fellow, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!”
Psalms 52:2Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Proverbs 2:4if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures;
Proverbs 6:14in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.
Proverbs 19:28A corrupt witness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down iniquity.
Habakkuk 2:13Behold, isn’t it from the LORD of Armies that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:27
26 He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him. This is designed to engage us to diligence, and quicken us, what our hand finds to do, to do it with all our might, both in our worldly business and in the work of religion; for in the original it is, The soul that labours labours for itself. It is heart-work which is here intended, the labour of the soul, which is here recommended to us, 1. As that which will be absolutely needful. Our mouth is continually craving it of us; the… Read the whole commentary →