James 3:3-8
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If we put g bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
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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.
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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!
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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, and set on fire by hell.
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For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
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but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, k full of deadly poison.
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Cross References
Psalms 32:9
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
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Cross References
Psalms 12:3 - 4
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts.
Psalms 73:8 - 9
They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
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Cross References
Psalms 120:2 - 4
Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
Proverbs 16:27
A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.
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Cross References
Matthew 15:18
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
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Cross References
Psalms 140:3
They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
Ecclesiastes 10:11
If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer.
Romans 3:13
"Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.