29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Now Paul has moved to the general quality and content of our communication. It is worth noting that people communicate with more than just words. Consider how much we use to communicate apart from words themselves: facial expressions, gestures, posture, pace, volume, and tone, to name a few. The King James Bible thus provides the more comprehensive directive about “communication” rather than reducing it to merely "talk" as modern translations do, though the Holy Spirit emphasizes our words with “out of your mouth.” We are specifically directed not to permit "corrupt communication," which the verse clearly defines for us: anything that does not edify and minister grace to the hearers. "Minister grace" does not mean "always nice" however. As mentioned in the comments on verse sixteen, Christ was not overly kind to self-righteous scripture abusers, nor is there anything "nice" about addressing sin, which is necessary when preaching the Gospel.
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