King James Version

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

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Hebrew

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מָ֣וֶתmavetdeadמָוֶתnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “dead”, the ordinary formH4194death (natural or violent); concretely, the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively, pestilence, ruin(be) dead(-ly), death, die(-d).וְ֭חַיִּיםvechayimand lifeחַיconjunction, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “and life”, the ordinary formH2416alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively[phrase] age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, [phrase] merry, multitude, [phrase] (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.בְּיַדbeyadin handיָדpreposition, noun, common, both genders, singular, construct — “in hand”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3027a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),([phrase] be) able, [idiom] about, [phrase] armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, [idiom] bounty, [phrase] broad, (broken-) handed, [idiom] by, charge, coast, [phrase] consecrate, [phrase] creditor, custody, debt, dominion, […לָשׁ֑וֹןlashontongueלָשׁוֹןnoun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “tongue”, the ordinary formH3956the tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water)[phrase] babbler, bay, [phrase] evil speaker, language, talker, tongue, wedge.וְ֝אֹהֲבֶ֗יהָveohaveyhaand loveאָהַבconjunction, verb, qal, participle, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “and love”, a verb used as a describing wordH157to have affection for (sexually or otherwise)(be-) love(-d, -ly, -r), like, friend.יֹאכַ֥לyokhaleatאָכַלverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “eat”, an unfinished actionH398to eat (literally or figuratively)[idiom] at all, burn up, consume, devour(-er, up), dine, eat(-er, up), feed (with), food, [idiom] freely, [idiom] in...wise(-deed, plenty), (lay) meat, [idiom] quite.פִּרְיָֽהּpiryahfruitפְּרִיnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “fruit”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6529fruit (literally or figuratively)bough, (first-)fruit(-ful), reward.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that indulge it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Young’s Literal Translation

Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those loving it eat its fruit.

World English Bible

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.

Darby Translation

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Douay-Rheims

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love it, shall eat the fruits thereof.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that indulge it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

Life and death are in the power of the tongue; and they that rule it shall eat the fruits thereof.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Θάνατος καὶ ζωὴ ἐν χειρὶ γλώσσης, οἱ δὲ κρατοῦντες αὐτῆς ἔδονται τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς.