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Pentecost Season · Proper 19 · Year B

James 3:1-12

Taming the Tongue

Calumny of Apelles, Sandro Botticelli
Calumny of Apelles, Sandro Botticelli, c. 1494-1495Uffizi Gallery, Florence · public domain

Overview & Insights

"How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire." (James 3:5-6)

James warns that teachers face stricter judgment and that the tongue, though small, has vast power to bless or destroy. He calls for consistency so that blessing and cursing do not pour from the same mouth.

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