Proverbs 12:17-19

He who speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit. Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Read all of Proverbs 12

9 songs meet this passage

  • Hype Boys (Instrumental) · Sway

    strains against Proverbs 12:17-19

    He claims to testify truth here, but the later verses celebrate skillful lying as a craft, undercutting any real commitment to truthfulness.

  • “You think you broke my heart, oh, girl, for goodness' sake”

    Love Yourself · Justin Bieber

    strains against Proverbs 12:18

    The song answers hurt with a sharp, cutting rebuttal rather than words that bring healing.

  • “Your words cut deeper than a knife”

    Stitches · Shawn Mendes

    resonates with Proverbs 12:18

    Names the real power words have to wound, which this song dramatizes through its knife imagery.

  • “your words like daggers in me”

    Dead Or Alive · Izumi is dead

    resonates with Proverbs 12:18

    Names accurately how reckless, cruel words wound like a sword, matching the song's experience of verbal abuse.

  • “I said some f**ked up things to u before”

    My Place (feat. Jaheim) · Nelly

    resonates with Proverbs 12:18

    There's a real acknowledgment here that reckless words wound, even if the resolve to change is thin.

  • “I can cut you into pieces”

    Please Don't Leave Me · P!nk

    strains against Proverbs 12:18

    The song treats cutting words as a weapon in a contest, while this proverb names reckless words as a wound and wise words as healing.

  • “According to me, you're stupid, you're useless”

    According to You · Orianthi

    strains against Proverbs 12:18

    Her turning the same cutting words back on him shows how quickly hurt becomes a weapon, rather than the healing speech wisdom calls for.

  • “So casually cruel in the name of being honest”

    All Too Well (Taylor's Version) · Taylor Swift

    strains against Proverbs 12:18

    The proverb names what the song mourns: words wielded carelessly wound like a sword, even when dressed up as honesty.

  • You'll See · Madonna

    resonates with Proverbs 12:19

    The confidence that truth outlasts lies mirrors this proverb's assurance, even framed here as personal vindication rather than divine truth.

Elsewhere in Proverbs 12