1 Samuel 24:9

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials are wicked.

²¹Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you; ²²for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others.

²⁸A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.

²³The north wind produces rain; so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.

¹⁹Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is so that the LORD has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, they are cursed before the LORD; for they have driven me out today that I shouldn’t cling to the LORD’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’

¹⁶“‘You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life^[+] of your neighbor. I am the LORD.

⁶And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin.

⁸The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person’s innermost parts.

⁶Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock. They will hear my words, for they are well spoken.