James 3:5-10

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

How great a forest is set ablaze by a such a small fire!^{(A) 6} And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of life, and is itself set on fire by hell.^{[a](B) 7} For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue—a restless^[b] evil, full of deadly poison.^{(C) 9} With it we bless the Lord^[c] and Father, and with it we curse people, made in the likeness of God.^{(D) 10} From the same mouth comes a blessing and a curse. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.