1 c Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For d we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, e he is a perfect man, f able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put g bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet h it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And i the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, j staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, 1 and set on fire by hell. 2 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, k full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people l who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, 3 these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.