“The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable”: “The lips of the righteous” is again the speech of good people. It is not their speech that “knows” but rather the speakers themselves. This may be rendered, for example, “When good people speak they know. . ..” “What is acceptable” refers to words and thoughts that are good, favorable, and kind and so are acceptable to God or to others. In other words these people know how to choose their words; or, as Revised English Bible says, “The righteous suit words to the occasion.” In some languages there are idioms to describe talk that is “acceptable”; for example, “The words of a good person are sweet to the ears of the people.”

“But the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse”: that is, the speech or talk of evil people is false. “Perverse” is as in verse 31. We may render this verse: “Honest people know the right thing to say, but the wicked always tell lies.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .