James 3:3-12

Easy-to-Read Version

³ We put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us. With these bits we can control their whole body. ⁴ It is the same with ships. A ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship. And the one who controls the rudder decides where the ship will go. It goes where he wants it to go. ⁵ It is the same with our tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it can boast about doing great things.

A big forest fire can be started with only a little flame. ⁶ The tongue is like a fire. It is a world of evil among the parts of our body. It spreads its evil through our whole body and starts a fire that influences all of life. It gets this fire from hell.

⁷ Humans have control over every kind of wild animal, bird, reptile, and fish, and they have controlled all these things. ⁸ But no one can control the tongue. It is wild and evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people who were created in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ These praises and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen. ¹¹ Do good water and bad water flow from the same spring? Of course not. ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree make olives? Or can a grapevine make figs? No, and a well full of salty water cannot give good water.