1 My brothers, do not swell the ranks of the teachers; remember, we teachers will be judged with special strictness. 2 We all make many a slip, but whoever avoids slips of speech is a perfect man; he can bridle the whole of the body as well as the tongue.
3 We put bridles into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and so, you see, we can move the whole of their bodies. 4 Look at ships too; for all their size and speed under stiff winds, they are turned by a tiny rudder wherever the mind of the steersman chooses. 5 So the tongue is a small member of the body, but it can boast of great exploits. What a forest is set ablaze by a little spark of fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the tongue proves a very world of mischief among our members, staining the whole of the body and setting fire to the round circle of existence with a flame fed by hell.
7 For while every kind of beast and bird, of creeping animals and creatures marine, is tameable and has been tamed by mankind, 8 no man can tame the tongue ??plague of disorder that it is, full of deadly venom! 9 With the tongue we bless the Lord and Father, and with the tongue we curse men made in God's likeness; 10 blessing and cursing stream from the same lips! My brothers, this ought not to be. 11 Does a fountain pour out fresh water and brackish from the same hole? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives? Or a vine, figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
13 Who among you is wise and learned? Let him show by his good conduct, with the modesty of wisdom, what his deeds are. 14 But if you are cherishing bitter jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on that ??and be false to the truth. 15 That is not the wisdom which comes down from above, it is an earthly wisdom, sensuous, devilish; 16 for wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there disorder reigns and every evil. 17 The wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, forbearing, conciliatory, full of mercy and wholesome fruit, unambiguous, straightforward; 18 and the peacemakers who sow in peace reap righteousness.