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James 3:1-12 — Taming the Tongue

Jas.3.1-12

¹Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, since you know that we will receive a stricter judgment. ²For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in speech, that person is a mature man, able to bridle the whole body as well. ³Now if we put bits into horses' mouths so that they obey us, we also guide their whole body. ⁴Look at the ships too: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot intends. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things . See how great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is set among our members as a world of unrighteousness , staining the whole body, setting the whole course of life on fire, and being itself set on fire by Hell. ⁷For every kind of beast and bird, of reptiles and sea creatures, is being tamed and has been tamed by humankind. ⁸But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father , and with it we curse people, who have been made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things ought not to be so, my brothers and sisters. ¹¹A spring does not gush forth both sweet and bitter water from the same opening, does it? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water produce fresh water .

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4/11/2026

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