Proverbs 5:2 (NKJV) — 2 That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

The result of purposeful attention. The aim of the repeated appeal to be attentive to wisdom and understanding is that those who do this will regard discretion and their lips will keep knowledge. The proper attitude toward discretion and knowledge will come only to those who have first disciplined themselves to listen carefully to wisdom and understanding.

A person’s lips should keep knowledge, which implies the importance not just of knowing truth but of speaking it. The Book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about the significance of words. They can been a blessing or a curse, both to those who speak them and to those who hear them. (See 10:19; 14:23; 18:8, 21; 21:23; 26:20.) Many other books of the Bible address the same subject. (See Ecclesiastes 5:3; Matthew 12:36-37; Titus 1:10; James 1:26.)

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