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Saturday, July 12th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

Ecclesiastes 7:21

Don’t pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Curiosity;   Forgiveness;   Servant;   Wisdom;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Slave, Slavery;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Excommunication;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 31;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Also don't take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you;
King James Version
Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
English Standard Version
Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.
New American Standard Bible
Also, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you,
New Century Version
Don't listen to everything people say, or you might hear your servant insulting you.
Amplified Bible
Also, do not take seriously everything that is said, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you,
World English Bible
Also don't take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you;
Geneva Bible (1587)
Giue not thine heart also to all ye wordes that men speake, lest thou doe heare thy seruant cursing thee.
Legacy Standard Bible
Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave cursing you.
Berean Standard Bible
Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.
Contemporary English Version
Don't listen to everything that everyone says, or you might hear your servant cursing you.
Complete Jewish Bible
Also, don't take seriously every word spoken, such as when you hear your servant speaking badly of you;
Darby Translation
Also give not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.
Easy-to-Read Version
Don't listen to everything people say. You might hear your own servant saying bad things about you.
George Lamsa Translation
Also take no heed of all words that are spoken by the wicked; neither listen to your servant when he curses you;
Good News Translation
Don't pay attention to everything people say—you may hear your servant insulting you,
Lexham English Bible
Do not pay attention to everything people say, lest you hear your own servant curse you.
Literal Translation
Also, do not give your heart to all the words they speak, that you not hear your servant cursing you.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Take not hede vnto euery worde yt is spoken, lest thou heare thy seruaunt curse the:
American Standard Version
Also take not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee;
Bible in Basic English
Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Also take not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee;
King James Version (1611)
Also take no heede vnto all words that are spoken; lest thou heare thy seruant curse thee.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Take no heede vnto euery word that is spoken, lest thou heare thy seruaunt curse thee:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For there is not a righteous man in the earth, who will do good, and not sin
English Revised Version
Also take not heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But also yyue thou not thin herte to alle wordis, that ben seid; lest perauenture thou here thi seruaunt cursynge thee;
Update Bible Version
Also don't take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your slave curse you;
Webster's Bible Translation
Also take no heed to all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
New English Translation
Also, do not pay attention to everything that people say; otherwise, you might even hear your servant cursing you.
New King James Version
Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
New Living Translation
Don't eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you.
New Life Bible
Do not listen to all the things that are said, or you might hear your servant cursing you.
New Revised Standard
Do not give heed to everything that people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Moreover, not to all the words which men speak, do thou apply thy heart, - lest thou hear thine own servant reviling thee!
Douay-Rheims Bible
(7-22) But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.
Revised Standard Version
Do not give heed to all the things that men say, lest you hear your servant cursing you;
Young's Literal Translation
Also to all the words that they speak give not thy heart, that thou hear not thy servant reviling thee.
THE MESSAGE
Don't eavesdrop on the conversation of others. What if the gossip's about you and you'd rather not hear it? You've done that a few times, haven't you—said things Behind someone's back you wouldn't say to his face?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you.

Contextual Overview

11Wisdom is as good as an inheritanceand an advantage to those who see the sun, 12because wisdom is protection as silver is protection;but the advantage of knowledgeis that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. 13Consider the work of God,for who can straighten outwhat he has made crooked? 14In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him. 15In my futile life I have seen everything: someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil. 16Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time? 18It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them. 19Wisdom makes the wise person strongerthan ten rulers of a city. 20There is certainly no one righteous on the earthwho does good and never sins.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

take no heed: Heb. give not thine heart, 2 Samuel 19:19

unto: 2 Samuel 16:10, Isaiah 29:21, 1 Corinthians 13:5-7

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 24:9 - General Ecclesiastes 10:20 - thought

Cross-References

Genesis 6:13
Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
Genesis 6:17
“Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
Genesis 7:3
and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep offspring alive throughout the earth.
Genesis 7:4
Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing I have made I will wipe off the face of the earth.”
Genesis 7:6
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came and water covered the earth.
Genesis 7:7
So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters.
Genesis 7:15
Two of every creature that has the breath of life in it came to Noah and entered the ark.
Genesis 7:17
The flood continued for forty days on the earth; the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth.
Genesis 7:20
The mountains were covered as the water surged above them more than twenty feet.
Genesis 7:22
Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils—everything on dry land died.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken,.... Seeing so it is, that imperfection attends the best of men, no man is wise at all times, foolish words and unguarded expressions will sometimes drop from him, which it is better to take no notice of; they should not be strictly attended to, and closely examined, since they will not bear it. A man should not listen to everything that is said of himself or others; he should not curiously inquire what men say of him; and what he himself hears he should take no notice of; it is often best to let it pass, and not call it over again; to feign the hearing of a thing, or make as if you did not hear it; for oftentimes, by rehearsing a matter, or taking up words spoken, a deal of trouble and mischief follows; a man should not "give [his] heart" f to it, as it is in the Hebrew text; he should not give his mind to what is said of him, but be careless and indifferent about it; much less should he lay it up in his mind, and meditate revenge for it. The Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, restrain it to words spoken by wicked men, whose tongues are their own, and will say what they please; among these may be ranked, more especially, detractors, whisperers, backbiters, and talebearers, who should not be listened unto and encouraged; though there is no necessity of thus limiting the sense, which is more general, and may include what is said by any man, even good men, since they have their infirmities; it seems chiefly to have respect to defamatory words, by what follows;

lest thou hear thy servant curse thee; speak slightly, scoffingly, and reproachfully of thee, as Shimei of David; which must be very disagreeable and vexatious to hear from one so mean and abject, and who is dependent on him, earns his bread of him, and gets his livelihood in his service; and to whom, perhaps, he has been kind, and so is guilty of base ingratitude, which aggravates the more; or, if not, if what he says is just, to hear it must give great uneasiness.

f אל תתן לבך "ne des tuum cor", Montanus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Curse ... cursed - Rather, speak evil of ... spoken evil of.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken — This is good advice, and much for every man's peace through life.

Thy servant curse thee — מקללך mekallelecha, make light of thee, speak evil of thee.


 
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