James 3:1-12 - Restraining The Tongue

¹ Many of you should not be teachers, my brothers. You know that we will receive a heavier (stricter) judgment. ² We all stumble in many things. If any do not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able to restrain (control) the whole body.

³ We put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us. We guide their whole bodies. ⁴ Look at ships. They are large and are driven by rough winds. Yet a very small rudder can control them, wherever the captain wills. ⁵ The tongue also is a little member. It boasts great things. Consider how great a forest fire a small fire kindles! ⁶ The tongue is like fire, the place of iniquity among our members. It defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of our life. It is set ablaze like the ever-burning fires in the Valley of Hinnom (Greek: Gehenna: symbolic of total destruction).

⁷ Every kind of beast and bird, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil. It is full of deadly poison. ⁹ We bless Jehovah, the Father, with it. (Psalm 34:1) Then we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God. ¹⁰ Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth! My brothers, these things should not be. ¹¹ Does the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine produce figs? Neither can salt water yield sweet.