3
If a person is not steadfast in the fear of the Lord, his house will be quickly overthrown.
4
When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears; so do a person's faults when he speaks.
5
The kiln tests the potter's vessels; so the test of a person is in his conversation.
6
Its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so a person's speech discloses the cultivation of his mind.
7
Do not praise anyone before he speaks, for this is the way people are tested.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.