1 My friends, not many of you should become teachers. As you know, we teachers will be judged with greater strictness than others.
2 All of us often make mistakes. But if a person never makes a mistake in what he says, he is perfect and is also able to control his whole being.
3 We put a bit into the mouth of a horse to make it obey us, and we are able to make it go where we want.
4 Or think of a ship: big as it is and driven by such strong winds, it can be steered by a very small rudder, and it goes wherever the pilot wants it to go.
5 So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things.Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame!
6 And the tongue is like a fire. It is a world of wrong, occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to it from hell itself.
7 We humans are able to tame and have tamed all other creatures—wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish.