Bible Strands
Proverbs 21:28
A lying witness will perish, but the man who listens to truth will speak forever.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The wisdom tradition addresses a general audience within a collected instruction, positioning the maxim between a warning against corrupt sacrifice and a contrast between the hardened wicked and the upright.
The words — שׁוֹמֵעַ (ShoMea) = who listens, paired with לָ/נֶצַח (la/NeTzach) = to perpetuity, describing the enduring nature of truthful speech.
The thread — The peril of false testimony recurs in Proverbs 19:5 and Proverbs 19:9, while the principle of faithful speech undergirds the quotation in 2 Corinthians 4:13.
Why it lands — The text demands the rejection of deceptive testimony and the active adoption of truthful listening, which produces speech that endures beyond immediate consequences.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth speaketh constantly.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 4:13 And in keeping with what is written, “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,
- Proverbs 19:5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
- Proverbs 19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.
- Exodus 23:1 “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
- Deuteronomy 19:16 If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,
- Proverbs 12:19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
- Proverbs 25:18 Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
- Proverbs 6:19 a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
- Acts 12:15 “You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:17 When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”?