James 3
3
James 3
Taming the Tongue
1 #
Mt 23.8; Lk 6.37 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will face stricter judgment. 2#1 Kings 8.46; Mt 12.37; Jas 1.26; 1 Pet 3.10For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is mature,#3.2 Gk a mature man able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5#Ps 12.3; Prov 12.18So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a such a small fire! 6#Prov 16.27; Mt 15.11, 18, 19And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of life, and is itself set on fire by hell.#3.6 Gk Gehenna 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8#Ps 140.3; Rom 3.13but no one can tame the tongue—a restless#3.8 Other ancient authorities read uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. 9#Gen 1.26With it we bless the Lord#3.9 Other ancient authorities read God and Father, and with it we curse people, made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth comes a blessing and a curse. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 #
Gal 6.4; Jas 2.18 Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant and lie about the truth. 15#1 Tim 4.1; Jas 1.17This is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16#Gal 5.20For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17#Rom 12.9; 1 Cor 2.6; 1 Pet 1.22But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18#Prov 11.18; Isa 32.17And the fruit of righteousness#3.18 Or justice is sown in peace by those who make peace.
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James 3: NRSVUE
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New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.