“The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up” (Ecclesiastes 10:12, NKJV). Gracious speech and self-destructive speech are contrasted directly here, two very different outcomes from the same basic capacity to speak.
Swallow him up is a vivid image. Foolish speech isn’t described as merely awkward, it’s described as actually consuming the one who speaks it, undoing them from their own mouth outward.
This is worth remembering the next time a careless word feels tempting. The damage described here doesn’t stay contained to the listener.
Has your own speech lately been more gracious or more self-consuming, according to the pattern this verse describes?