26 If anyone thinks he is religious (A)and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's (B)religion is worthless.

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26-27 Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

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26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

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26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not [a](A)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

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Footnotes

  1. James 1:26 Or control

So also the tongue is a small member, yet (A)it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And (B)the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, (C)staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,[a] and set on fire by hell.[b] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, (D)full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people (E)who are made in the likeness of God.

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Footnotes

  1. James 3:6 Or wheel of birth
  2. James 3:6 Greek Gehenna

3-5 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

5-6 It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

7-10 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!

10-12 My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

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In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.[a]

People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:6 Or for it will burn in hell (Greek Gehenna).

So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it (A)boasts of great things.

(B)See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And (C)the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among [a]our body’s parts as that which (D)defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our [b]life, and is set on fire by [c](E)hell. For every [d]species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human [e]race. But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of (F)deadly poison. With it we bless (G)our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, (H)who have been made in the likeness of God;

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Footnotes

  1. James 3:6 Lit our parts
  2. James 3:6 Or existence, origin
  3. James 3:6 Gr Gehenna
  4. James 3:7 Lit nature
  5. James 3:7 Lit nature

29 (A)Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give (B)grace to those who hear.

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29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

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29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

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29 Let no [a](A)unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for (B)edification [b]according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 4:29 Lit rotten
  2. Ephesians 4:29 Lit of the need