Proverbs 26:23
Fervent lips and a wicked heart are like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross.
Revised Version 1895
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 hideth hatred is of lying lips; and he that uttereth a slander is a fool.
Proverbs 25:4Take away the dross from the silver, and there cometh forth a vessel for the finer:
Ezekiel 33:31And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but do them not: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their gain.
Luke 11:39And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inward part is full of extortion 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 →