Letter of James 3

¹ Only a few of you, my brothers, should be teachers, bearing in mind that those of us who teach can expect a stricter judgement.

² After all, every one of us does something wrong, over and over again; the only man who could reach perfection would be someone who never said anything wrong – he would be able to control every part of himself.

³ Once we put a bit into the horse’s mouth, to make it do what we want, we have the whole animal under our control.

⁴ Or think of ships: no matter how big they are, even if a gale is driving them, the man at the helm can steer them anywhere he likes by controlling a tiny rudder.

⁵ So is the tongue only a tiny part of the body, but it can proudly claim that it does great things. Think how small a flame can set fire to a huge forest;

⁶ the tongue is a flame like that. Among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a whole wicked world in itself: it infects the whole body; catching fire itself from hell, it sets fire to the whole wheel of creation.

⁷ Wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish can all be tamed by man, and often are;

⁸ but nobody can tame the tongue – it is a pest that will not keep still, full of deadly poison.

⁹ We use it to bless the Lord and Father, but we also use it to curse men who are made in God’s image:

¹⁰ the blessing and the curse come out of the same mouth. My brothers, this must be wrong –

¹¹ does any water supply give a flow of fresh water and salt water out of the same pipe?

¹² Can a fig tree give you olives, my brothers, or a vine give figs? No more can sea water give you fresh water.

¹³ If there are any wise or learned men among you, let them show it by their good lives, with humility and wisdom in their actions.

¹⁴ But if at heart you have the bitterness of jealousy, or a self-seeking ambition, never make any claims for yourself or cover up the truth with lies –

¹⁵ principles of this kind are not the wisdom that comes down from above: they are only earthly, animal and devilish.

¹⁶ Wherever you find jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony, and wicked things of every kind being done;

¹⁷ whereas the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it also makes for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it.

¹⁸ Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in holiness.