Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageThe words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down into the depths of the belly.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThe words of a whisperer are like savoury morsels; they slide down into the inner rooms of the belly.
KJV
King James VersionThe words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleThe words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
Footnotes
This verse is word-for-word identical to 18:8—its verbatim repetition a deliberate rhetorical signal that gossip's power lies precisely in its repeatability; the same poison works twice. *Mitlahamim* (מִתְלַהֲמִים) is a *hapax legomenon* of uncertain derivation: possibly 'dainties/delicacies' (from a root related to eager swallowing), possibly 'wounds' (from *lacham*, to fight/devour). The ambiguity appears intentional—gossip tastes like a delicacy and wounds like a weapon simultaneously. FOG leans into appetite with 'savoury morsels'; FOG Message uses 'choice morsels' to retain the same flavour.