1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.

2 For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.

3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies.

4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot's inclination directs.

5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze.

6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence--and is set on fire by hell.

James 3:1-6, New English Translation. Copyright © 1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press.
James 2
Top of Page
Top of Page
Copied