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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>James 3 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/james/3.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/james/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > James 3</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../james/2.htm" title="James 2">◄</a> James 3 <a href="../james/4.htm" title="James 4">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/james/3.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Controlling the Tongue</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Dear brothers and sisters,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.</p><p class="reg">But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>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 href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a></p><p class="hdg">True Wisdom Comes from God</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/james/3-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a></p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:1 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">brothers;</span><span class="ft"> also in 3:10.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:6 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">for it will burn in hell</span><span class="ft"> (Greek </span><span class="it">Gehenna</span><span class="ft">).</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:12 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">from salt.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">3:18 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">of good things,</span><span class="ft"> or </span><span class="it">of justice.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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