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James 3:1–3

Taming the Tongue

cNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For dwe all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ehe is a perfect man, fable also to bridle his whole body. If we put gbits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

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James 3:1–3 — The New International Version (NIV)

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.

James 3:1–3 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

James 3:1–3 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 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.

We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.

James 3:1–3 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.

James 3:1–3 — New Century Version (NCV)

My brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all make many mistakes. If people never said anything wrong, they would be perfect and able to control their entire selves, too. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can control their whole bodies.

James 3:1–3 — American Standard Version (ASV)

Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment. For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. Now if we put the horses’ bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also.

James 3:1–3 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

Be not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive greater judgment. For we all often offend. If any one offend not in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body too. Behold, we put the bits in the mouths of the horses, that they may obey us, and we turn round their whole bodies.

James 3:1–3 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more severely. 

All of us make a lot of mistakes. If someone doesn’t make any mistakes when he speaks, he would be perfect. He would be able to control everything he does. We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we have control over everything they do.

James 3:1–3 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment, for we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who is also able to control his whole body.

Now when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide the whole animal.

James 3:1–3 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies.

James 3:1–3 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a greater judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to hold in check his whole body also. And if we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we also guide their whole bodies.

James 3:1–3 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

My brothers and sisters, most of you shouldn’t want to be teachers. You know that those of us who teach will be held more accountable.

All of us get tripped up in many ways. Suppose someone is never wrong in what he says. Then he is a perfect man. He is able to keep his whole body under control.

We put a bit in the mouth of a horse to make it obey us. We can control the whole animal with it.

James 3:1–3 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

Now if we put the bits into the horses mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.


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