| 3:1 | DON'T aim at adding to the number of teachers, my brothers, I beg you! Remember that we who are teachers will be judged by a much higher standard. |
| 3:2 | We all make mistakes in all kinds of ways, but the man who con claim that he never says the wrong thing can consider himself perfect, for if he can control his tongue he can control every other part of his personality. |
| 3:3 | Men control the movements of a large animal like the horse with a tiny bit placed in its mouth. |
| 3:4 | Ships too, for all their size and the momentum they have with a strong wind behind them, are controlled by a very small rudder according to the course chosen by the helmsman. |
| 3:5 | The human tongue is physically small, but what tremendous effects it can boast of! A whole forest can he set ablaze by a tiny spark of fire, |
| 3:6 | and the tongue is a fire, a whole world of evil. It is set within our bodily members but it can poison the whole body, it can set the whole of life ablaze, fed with the fires of hell. |
| 3:7 | Beasts, birds, reptiles and all kinds of seacreatures can be, and in fact are, tamed by man, |
| 3:8 | but no one can tame the human tongue. It is an evil always liable to break out, and the poison it spreads is deadly. |
| 3:9 | We use the tongue to bless our Lord and Father and we use the same tongue to curse our fellowmen, who are all crested in God's likeness. |
| 3:10 | Blessing and curses come out of the same mouthsurely, my brothers, this is the sort of thing that never ought to happen! |
| 3:11 | Have you ever known a spring to give sweet and bitter water from the same source? |
| 3:12 | Have you ever seen a figtree with a crop of olives, or seen figs growing on a vine? It is just as impossible for salt water to produce fresh. |
| 3:13 | Is there some wise and understanding man among you? Then let his life be a shining example of the humility that is born of true wisdom. |
| 3:14 | But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and rivalry, then do not boast and do not deny the truth. |
| 3:15 | You may acquire a certain wisdom, but it does not come from aboveit comes from this world, from your own lower nature, even from the devil. |
| 3:16 | For wherever you find jealousy and rivalry you also find disharmony and all other kinds of evil. |
| 3:17 | The wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceloving, gentle, approachable, full of merciful thoughts and kindly actions, straightforward, with no hint of hypocrisy. |
| 3:18 | And the peacemakers go on quietly sowing for a harvest of righteousness. |
Yakobus 3 - Philips NT in Modern English
