Controlling the Tongue

3 Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.

⁷ They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently.

⁴⁷ “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. ⁴⁸ But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.

³ Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.

²⁸ Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:

¹³ “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.^[a]

²⁹ For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ,^[a] you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.

³¹ But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. ³² Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

⁸ “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.^{[a] 9} And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. ¹⁰ And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.

⁷ And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.

²⁰ You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.

²¹ Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal?