³⁴ You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

⁴⁵ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

¹⁸ But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.

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.

⁵ 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. ⁶ 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]

⁷ People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

¹³ As that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm you.

¹⁰ So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers^[a] does not belong to God.

¹⁰ As the Scriptures say,

⁴⁴ For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

³⁵ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.