3Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you^* know that we will receive a greater judgment.^a ²For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual,^b able to hold in check his whole body also. ³And if we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we also guide their whole bodies. ⁴Behold also ships: although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot wishes. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member of the body^* and boasts great things. Behold how small a fire sets ablaze how great a forest! ⁶And the tongue is a fire! The world of unrighteousness,^c the tongue, is set among our members, defiling the whole body and setting on fire the course of human existence^d, being set on fire by hell.

⁷For every species of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is being tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸but no human being is able to tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the^* Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so! ¹¹A spring does not pour forth from the same opening fresh and bitter water, does it?^* ¹²A fig tree is not able, my brothers, to produce olives, or a grapevine figs. Neither can a saltwater spring produce fresh water.

The Wisdom That Comes Down from Above

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his^* good behavior his works, with the humility of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. ¹⁵This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, nonjudgmental, without hypocrisy, ¹⁸And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace among^e those who make peace.

Subject Yourselves to God

4From where are conflicts and from where are quarrels among you? Is it not from this, from your pleasures that wage war among your members? ²You desire and do not have; you murder and are filled with envy, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, in order that you may spend it on your pleasures.

⁴Adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think that in vain the scripture says, “The spirit which he caused to dwell in us desires jealously”?^a ⁶But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.”^b

⁷Therefore subject yourselves to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded! ⁹Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your^* joy to gloominess. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹¹Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. The one who speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of the law.^c ¹²There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your^* neighbor?

Arrogant Boasting About the Future

¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there, and carry on business and make a profit,” ¹⁴you who do not know what will happen tomorrow^d, what your life will be like^e. For you are a smoky vapor that appears for a short time and then disappears. ¹⁵Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷Therefore, to the one who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

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Footnotes

*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“know”) which is understood as causal
aOr “greater condemnation”
bLiterally “man,” but clearly in a generic sense here meaning “someone, a person”
*The words “of the body” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity
cOr “a fire, the world of unrighteousness! The tongue is set among our members”
dLiterally “the wheel of origin”
*Or possibly “our,” if the Greek article is understood as a possessive pronoun
*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here
*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
eOr “for”; or possibly “by”
aThis translation takes “spirit” to be the capacity within people that produces a divided mind and conflicts regarding God; other translations take this to refer to the Holy Spirit: “He (God) jealously desires the Spirit which he caused to dwell in us”
bA quotation from Prov 3:34
*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
cThe words “of the law” are not in the Greek text, but are an understood repetition from the previous clause
*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
dLiterally “the circumstance of tomorrow”
eLiterally “of what sort your life”