James 3:3-8

English Standard Version

³ If we put ^(A)bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ 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. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet ^(B)it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And ^(C)the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^(D)staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,^[a] and set on fire by hell.^{[b] 7} For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^(E)full of deadly poison.