Sins of the tongue
1 My brothers and sisters, don’t all be teachers! You know that, as teachers, we will be judged most strictly;
2 in fact, we make mistakes, like everybody else. A person who commits no offense in speech is perfect and capable of ruling the whole self.
3 We put a bit into the horse’s mouth to master it and, with this, we control its whole body.
4 The same is true of ships: however big they are and driven by strong winds, they are guided by a tiny rudder.
5 In the same way, the tongue is a tiny part of the body but it is capable of great things.
A small flame is enough to set a huge forest on fire.
6 The tongue is a similar flame; it is in itself a whole world of evil. It infects the whole being and sets fire to our world with the very fire of hell.
7 Wild animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures of every kind are and have been ruled by the human species.
8 Nobody, however, can control the tongue; it is an untiring whip, full of deadly poison.
9 We use it to bless God, our Father, and also to curse those made in God’s likeness.
10 From the same mouth come both blessing and curse.
Brothers and sisters, this should not be the case.
11 Can both fresh and salt water gush from the same source?
12 Can a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine give figs? Neither is the sea able to give fresh water.
True wisdom
13 If you consider yourself wise and learned, show it by your good life and let your actions, in all humility, be an example for others.
14 But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and ambition, do not try to show off; that would be covering up the truth;
15 this kind of wisdom does not come from above but from the world and it is earthly and devilish.
16 Wherever there is jealousy and ambition, you will also find discord and all that is evil.
17 Instead, the wisdom that comes from above is pure and peace-loving. Persons with this wisdom show understanding and listen to advice; they are full of compassion and good works; they are impartial and sincere.
18 Peace makers who sow peace reap a harvest of justice.
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Comments Letter to James, Chapter 3
• 3.13 What is wisdom? Let us read the Wisdom books of the Bible if we wish to know something of wisdom. They put us on the trail of a wisdom that is a gift of God (1 Cor 1:5; Eph 1:9), which is acquired by prayer (Wis 9; Sir 51:13; Col 1:9), perseverance in meditation on the word of God (2 Tim 3:17), the purification of the heart through ordinary living. James does not speak of a theoretical wisdom, but of practical wisdom.