James 3:5-12
New King James Version
5 Even so (A)the tongue is a little member and (B)boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And (C)the tongue is a fire, a world of [a]iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it (D)defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of [b]nature; and it is set on fire by [c]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, (E)full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made (F)in the [d]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 (G)fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? [e]Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- James 3:6 unrighteousness
- James 3:6 existence
- James 3:6 Gr. Gehenna
- James 3:9 likeness
- James 3:12 NU Neither can a salty spring produce fresh water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.