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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 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues(A) deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

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Take control of what I say, O Lord,
    and guard my lips.

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Set a guard over my mouth,(A) Lord;
    keep watch over the door of my lips.(B)

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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 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,(A) but only what is helpful for building others up(B) according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

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10 For the Scriptures say,

“If you want to enjoy life
    and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
    and your lips from telling lies.

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10 For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.

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19 Better to be poor and honest
    than to be dishonest and a fool.

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19 Better the poor whose walk is blameless
    than a fool whose lips are perverse.(A)

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Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

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Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk(A) or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.(B)

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13 Then keep your tongue from speaking evil
    and your lips from telling lies!

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13 keep your tongue(A) from evil
    and your lips from telling lies.(B)

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31 The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice,
    but the tongue that deceives will be cut off.

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31 From the mouth of the righteous comes the fruit of wisdom,(A)
    but a perverse tongue(B) will be silenced.

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Let your conversation be gracious and attractive[a] so that you will have the right response for everyone.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:6 Greek and seasoned with salt.

Let your conversation be always full of grace,(A) seasoned with salt,(B) so that you may know how to answer everyone.(C)

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19 Too much talk leads to sin.
    Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

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19 Sin is not ended by multiplying words,
    but the prudent hold their tongues.(A)

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22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

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22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.(A)

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18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

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18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”(A)

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Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 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]

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Footnotes

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

We all stumble(A) in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say(B) is perfect,(C) able to keep their whole body in check.(D)

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.(E) Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.(F) Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire,(G) a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body,(H) sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.(I)

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