⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet ^(A)it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And ^(B)the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^(C)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, ^(D)full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^(E)who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,^[c] these things ought not to be so.

^22 (A)He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious ^(A)and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's ^(B)religion is worthless.

² For ^(A)we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ^(B)he is a perfect man, ^(C)able also to bridle his whole body.

Hearing and Doing the Word

^19 (A)Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person ^(B)be quick to hear, ^(C)slow to speak, ^(D)slow to anger;

^9 (A)Do not lie to one another, seeing that ^(B)you have put off ^(C)the old self^[a] with its practices