1 My brothers and sisters, not many of you should be teachers. I say this because, as you know, we who teach will be judged more strictly than others.
2 We all make many mistakes. A person who never said anything wrong would be perfect. Someone like that would be able to control their whole body too.
3 We put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us. With these bits we can control their whole body.
4 It is the same with ships. A ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship. And the one who controls the rudder decides where the ship will go. It goes where he wants it to go.
5 It is the same with our tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it can boast about doing great things. A big forest fire can be started with only a little flame.