Proverbs 4:24 (WEB)

Passage

Put away from yourself a perverse mouth. Put corrupt lips far from you.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 4:22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:24 Put away from yourself a perverse mouth. Put corrupt lips far from you.

Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you.

Proverbs 4:26 Make the path of your feet level. Let all of your ways be established.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "away", "yourself", "perverse", "mouth", "corrupt", and "lips". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "away" and "yourself", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "Keep your heart with all diligence for..." into verse 25's "Let your eyes look straight ahead Fix...", so "away" and "yourself" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "away" and "yourself" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.