James 3:3-12
New King James Version
3 [a]Indeed, (A)we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so (B)the tongue is a little member and (C)boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And (D)the tongue is a fire, a world of [b]iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it (E)defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of [c]nature; and it is set on fire by [d]hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, (F)full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made (G)in the [e]similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a (H)fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? [f]Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
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