James 3
1 Not, many teachers, become ye, my brethren, knowing that, a severer sentence, shall ye receive;
Not many of you should become teachers, my friends, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly than others.
2 For, oft, are we stumbling, one and all: If anyone, in word, doth not stumble, the same, is a mature man, able to curb even the whole body.
We often make mistakes, every one of us. Anyone who does not make mistakes when speaking is indeed a perfect person, able to bridle their whole body as well.
3 Now, if, the horses bits, into their mouths, we thrust, to the end they may be yielding to us, their whole body also, do we turn about.
When we put bits into horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we change their course the rest of their bodies.
4 Lo! the ships also, large as they are, and, by rough winds, driven along, are turned about by a very small helm, whithersoever the impulse of the steersman inclineth.
Again, think of ships. Large as they are, and even when driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder and steered in whatever direction the man at the helm may determine.
5 So, also, the tongue, is, a little member, and yet, of great things, maketh boast. Lo! how small a fire, kindleth, how great a forest;
So is it with the tongue. Small as it is, it is a great boaster. Think how a tiny spark may set the largest forest ablaze!
6 And, the tongue, is a fire, —[as], the world of unrighteousness, the tongue, becometh fixed among our members, that which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of our natural life, and is set on fire, by gehenna! (Geenna g1067)
And the tongue is like a spark. It is a world of unrighteousness among the parts of our body. It contaminates the whole body; it sets the whole course of our existence on fire, and is itself set on fire by the flames of Gehenna. (Geenna g1067)
7 For, every nature—both of wild beasts and of birds, both of reptiles and of things in the sea, is to be tamed, and hath been tamed, by the human nature;
For while all kinds of animals, birds and reptiles and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed by humans,
8 But, the tongue, none of mankind can, tame, —A restless mischief! Full of deadly poison
no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless plague! It is charged with deadly poison!
9 Therewith, are we blessing our Lord and Father, and, therewith, we are cursing the men who, after the likeness of God, have been brought into being!
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made ‘in God’s likeness.’
10 Out of the same mouth, come forth blessing and cursing! Not meet, my brethren, for, these things, thus, to be coming to pass!
From the very same mouth come blessings and curses! My friends, it is not right that this should be so.
11 Doth, the fountain, out of the same opening, teem forth the sweet and the bitter?
Does a spring give both good and bad water from the same source?
12 Is it possible, my brethren, for, a fig-tree, to produce, olives, or, a vine, figs? Neither can, salt, water yield, sweet.
Can a fig tree, my friends, bear olives? Or a vine bear figs? No, nor can a brackish well give good water.
13 Who is wise and well-instructed among you? Let him show, out of his comely behaviour, his works, in meekness of wisdom.
Who among you claims to be wise and intelligent? They should show that their actions are the outcome of a good life lived in the humility of true wisdom.
14 But, if, bitter jealousy, ye have, and rivalry, in your hearts; be not boasting and showing yourselves false against the truth!
But if you harbor bitter envy and a spirit of rivalry in your hearts, do not boast or deny the truth.
15 This wisdom is not one, from above, coming down, but is earthly, born of the soul, demoniacal!
That is not the wisdom which comes from above; no, it is earthly, animalistic, demonic.
16 For, where jealousy and rivalry are, there, are anarchy and every ignoble deed.
For where envy and rivalry exist, there you will also find disorder and all kinds of bad, worthless actions.
17 But, the wisdom from above, is—first pure, then peaceable, reasonable, easy to be entreated, fraught with mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy.
But the wisdom from above is, before everything else, pure; then peace-loving, gentle, open to conviction, rich in compassion and good deeds, and free from partiality and insincerity.
18 And, in harvest of righteousness, with peace, is sown by them that make peace.
Justice is the harvest peacemakers will reap from seeds sown in a spirit of peace.
