Proverbs 25:9
Argue your case with your neighbor without betraying another’s confidence,
BSB
ASV
Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, And disclose not the secret of another;
KJV
Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:
An anticipation of the highest standard of ethical refinement Mat 18:15, but with a difference. Here the motive is prudential, the risk of shame, the fear of the irretrievable infamy of the betrayer of secrets. In the teaching of Christ the precept rests upon the divine authority and the perfect example.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 11:13A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
leads to
You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.
Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.
Through
Proverbs 20:19He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
leads to
A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
