Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
Thought - literally, consciousness.
Rich - the great. The language, as applied to earthly princes knowing the "thought," is figurative. But it literally holds good of the King of kings, whose consciousness of every evil thought we should ever realize.
Bed-chamber - the most secret place (2 Kings 6:12).
Bird of the air ... - proverbial (cf. Luke 19:40); in a way as marvelous and rapid as if birds, or some winged messenger, carried to the king information of the curse so uttered. In the East superhuman sagacity was attributed to birds.