Midrash sa Mga Awit 29:10: Shir HaShirim Rabbah, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Midrash Tehillim & Shemot Rabbah

Rabbi Azarya [said] in the name of Rabbi Yehuda that Rabbi Simon said: This is analogous to a king who had an orchard, and they descended and planted a row of fig trees, a row of grapevines, a row of pomegranate trees, and a row of apple trees. He entrusted it to a sharecropper and went. Some time later, the king came and peered at the orchard to ascertain what he had done, and he found it filled with thorns and briars. He brought cutters to cut it down,²¹He was going to cut down the entire orchard. but he saw a rose in it and smelled it, and he was placated. The king said: Because of this rose, the orchard will be saved. So too, the world was created only for Israel. After twenty-six generations passed, the Holy One blessed be He peered at His world to ascertain what it had done, and He saw that it was water in water. The generation of Enosh was obliterated with water.²²See Bereishit Rabba 23:6. The Generation of the Flood was obliterated with water; the Generation of the Dispersion, in water. He brought cutters to cut it, as it is stated: “The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood” (Psalms 29:10).²³He sat in judgment. He saw a rose, this is, Israel; He took it and smelled it when Israel assented to the Ten Commandments, and He was placated. When Israel said: “We will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7), the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Due to this rose, the orchard will be spared; due to the merit of the Torah and those who engage in its study, the world will be spared.’

(Exodus 18:1) "And Yithro heard": What did he hear that caused him to come (and join Israel)? The war with Amalek, which is juxtaposed with this section. These are the words of R. Yehoshua. He heard of the (prospective) giving of the Torah and he came. For when the Torah was to be given to Israel, all the kings of the earth shook in their palaces, viz. (Psalms 29:9) "and (each king) in his palace accorded glory" (to the L–rd). At that time, all the kings of the nations convened with the wicked Bilam and said to him: Is it possible that He is going to do to us as He did to the generation of the flood? He replied: Fools that you are! The Holy One Blessed be He already swore to Noach that he would not bring (another) flood to the world, viz. (Isaiah 54:9) "For this to Me is like the waters of Noach, of which I swore that the waters of Noach would no more pass over the earth." They: Perhaps he will not bring a flood of water, but He will bring a flood of fire? Bilam: He will bring neither a flood of fire nor a flood of water, but the Holy One Blessed be He is giving Torah to His people and to His loved ones, viz. (Psalms, Ibid. 10) "the L–rd will give strength ("oz" = Torah) to His people." When all of them heard this from his mouth, they all responded (Ibid.) "May the L–rd bless His people with peace," and they turned and went, each to his place.

The verse "The Lord will cut off all flattering lips" (Psalms 12:4) is explained by Rabbi Yonatan in the name of Bar Kappara as referring to lashon hara (evil speech). He states that lashon hara is as severe as idol worship, sexual immorality, and murder. The seriousness of idol worship is demonstrated by Exodus 32:31, which describes the people's sin as a great sin. Sexual immorality is condemned in Genesis 39:9, where Joseph asks, "How then can I do this great wickedness?" Murder is considered a great sin, as expressed in 2 Samuel 4:13, which states, "A great guilt has fallen upon us." Lashon hara is referred to as "great speaking" (Proverbs 18:21) and it is written that those who speak lashon hara say, "We will increase our tongue" (Psalms 12:5). Rabbi Yosei bar Hanina teaches that no one speaks lashon hara about their friend unless they deny the fundamental principle that "Who is the Lord, that we should obey him?" (Exodus 5:2). The psalmist also cries out against those who speak lashon hara in Psalm 94:16, asking, "Who will rise up for me against the wicked?" The punishment for those who speak lashon hara is severe, as even hell itself cries out that it cannot bear their presence. God responds to this by saying, "I am above and you are below" (Psalms 50:4), meaning that the punishment for lashon hara is worse than that of a sword or arrow. A sword cannot kill unless it is close to the target, but an arrow can be shot from a distance and hit its target anywhere (Jeremiah 9:7, Psalms 120:4). The phrase "if you have turned your tongue against your fellow" (Job 6:30) implies that speaking lashon hara is equivalent to shedding blood, as it is taught by Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai that lashon hara kills three people: the speaker, the listener, and the one about whom it is spoken. Rabbi Bibi explains that we find that Saul killed four people in his lifetime, but he received a severe punishment for not protesting when others spoke lashon hara (Yoma 22b). Even the High Priestly city of Nov was destroyed because the people spoke lashon hara (Sanhedrin 104b). Rabbi Zera sent a message to Rabbi Simon asking why he did not protest when he heard lashon hara. Rabbi Simon replied that he was only among those who sighed and groaned. Rabbi Zera asked what would become of those who sighed and groaned, and Rabbi Simon replied that they would be punished as well (Ketubot 5b).