“Set, O Lord, a guard to my mouth. 'Death and life are in the hands of the tongue.' And again: 'Amen I say to you, that for every idle word which you have spoken, you shall render an account on the day of judgment.' This therefore the prophet asks, that everything he speaks may not be idle, but holy and worthy of God.…”
Jerome, 5th c. — Homily 51, on Psalm 140
Original
3Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
Modern
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In context
1Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.
2Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
— Psalms 141:3 —
4Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
5Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.