OEB - James - 3

3:1  I do not want many of you, my friends, to become teachers, knowing, as you do, that we who teach will be judged by a more severe standard than others.

3:2  We often make mistakes, every one of us. Anyone who does not make mistakes when speaking is indeed a perfect person, able to bridle their whole body as well.

3:3  When we put bits into horses’ mouths, to make them obey us, we control the rest of their bodies so.

3:4  Again, think of ships. Large as they are, and even when driven by fierce winds, they are controlled by a very small rudder and steered in whatever direction the man at the helm may determine.

3:5  So is it with the tongue. Small as it is, it is a great boaster. Think how tiny a spark may set the largest forest ablaze!

3:6  And the tongue is like a spark. Among the members of our body it proves itself a world of mischief; it contaminates the whole body; it sets the wheels of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by the flames of Gehenna.

3:7  For while all sorts of beasts and birds, and of reptiles and creatures in the sea, are tameable, and actually have been tamed by man,

3:8  no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless plague! It is charged with deadly poison!

3:9  With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made ‘in God’s likeness.’

3:10  From the very same mouth come blessings and curses! My friends, it is not right that this should be so.

3:11  Does a spring give both good and bad water from the same source?

3:12  Can a fig tree, my friends, bear olives? Or a vine bear figs? No, nor can a brackish well give good water.

3:13  Who among you claims to be wise and intelligent? Let them show that their actions are the outcome of a good life lived in the humility of true wisdom.

3:14  But, while you harbor envy and bitterness and a spirit of rivalry in your hearts, do not boast or lie to the detriment of the truth.

3:15  That is not the wisdom which comes from above; no, it is earthly, animal, devilish.

3:16  For, where envy and rivalry exist, there you will also find disorder and all kinds of base actions.

3:17  But the wisdom from above is, before every thing else, pure; then peace-loving, gentle, open to conviction, rich in compassion and good deeds, and free from partiality and insincerity.

3:18  And righteousness, its fruit, is sown in peace by those who work for peace.