James 3

⁷They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.

⁴⁷That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.

⁴⁸But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded.

³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

¹³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.

⁸But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

⁹And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

³He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

¹⁰For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

¹³Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

⁵In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁹Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.

¹For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”

²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

²⁸Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’

²⁴Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was engulfed by the waves. But Jesus was sleeping.

²⁵For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.

²⁶They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths; their courage melted in their anguish.

¹⁴But it was not long before a cyclone called the Northeaster swept down across the island.

¹⁵Unable to head into the wind, the ship was caught up. So we gave way and let ourselves be driven along.

²¹Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

¹⁸Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

³“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the Lord.

⁴“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.

²The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

¹⁰They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.

⁸They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.

⁹They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.

²Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.

³What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?

²⁷A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

¹⁵Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”

¹¹A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”

¹²Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

²⁰He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him.

²¹For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

¹³“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”

³They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah

²¹His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁴My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts—with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

³who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,

⁴ambushing the innocent in seclusion, shooting suddenly, without fear.

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

²⁶Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”

²⁷So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

⁶Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

⁴They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah

¹²By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.

¹This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

³for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

¹⁶To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?

¹⁷For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.

¹³At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.

¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord, saying, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

⁴³No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

⁴⁴For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.

³³Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

¹⁷Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

²¹I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?

¹⁶If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,

⁸And he said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Dead Sea, the water there becomes fresh.

⁹Wherever the river flows, there will be swarms of living creatures and a great number of fish, because it flows there and makes the waters fresh; so wherever the river flows, everything will flourish.

²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

⁵Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹²Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

²⁷Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending together as one for the faith of the gospel,

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.

³for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

²⁰For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

¹⁴The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

¹⁴But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.

³for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

³³For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints.

¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

²⁰idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,

⁹That is why it is called Babel, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the Lord scattered them over the face of all the earth.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

¹⁵Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

⁹Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the Lord until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.

¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

¹⁶Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.

¹⁷The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.

⁸The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.