Book of Common Prayer

3 My brothers, not many of you should be teachers. You know that we who teach will be punished more than other people.

² We all do many wrong things. Any man who never says anything wrong is right in every way. He is able to make his whole body do what is right.

³ We put a piece of iron in the mouths of horses so they will obey us. Then we can make their whole bodies go where we want them to go.

⁴ Look at the big boats also. They are very big. The strong winds push them along. But a man uses a small piece of wood and makes the boat go where he wants it to go.

⁵ A person's tongue is like that. It is a small part of the body but it talks about big things. A very small fire can burn a big pile of wood!

⁶ The tongue is like a fire. It is like a whole world of trouble. It is a part of our body. And it makes our whole body bad. It burns up our whole life. And the fire that makes the tongue burn comes from hell.

⁷ People have been able to tame all kinds of animals, birds, snakes, and fish.

⁸ But no one can tame the tongue. It is a bad thing that will not be ruled. It is full of poison that can kill.

⁹ We praise our Lord and Father with our tongues. And we speak wrong words about people with our tongues, even though they were made like God.

¹⁰ Praising and wrong words come out of the same mouth! My brothers, this should not be so.

¹¹ Do good water and bad water both come from the same place?

¹² My brothers, do olives come from a fig tree? Or do figs come from a vine? No, they do not! Salt water and fresh water do not both come from the same place.

17 Jesus said to his disciples, `People will make other people do wrong. But the person who makes another person do wrong will have trouble.

² A big stone should be tied around his neck and then he should be thrown into the sea. That would be better for him than to make one of these little children do wrong.

³ `Take care! If your brother does something bad, tell him what he has done. If he is sorry, then forgive him.

⁴ Maybe he will do wrong to you seven times in one day. But if he comes to you seven times in one day and says, "I am sorry for what I did," then you must forgive him.'

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, `Help us to believe more.'

⁶ The Lord said, `If you believe as much as a little mustard seed, then you can say to this tree, "Come up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea." And it would obey you.'

⁷ `If your servant is working in the field or taking care of sheep, what will you say to him when he comes in from the field? Will you say, "Come now and sit down to eat"?

⁸ No, you will say, "Get my food ready. Get ready to wait on me. I will eat and drink. After that, then you may eat and drink."

⁹ Will you thank the servant for doing what you told him to do?

¹⁰ `It is the same with you. When you have done all you were told to do, you should say, "We are servants. We have not done a big thing. We have only done what we should do." '