Taming the Tongue

¹Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

²We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal.

⁴Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.

⁵In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,

⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

¹⁰Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!

¹¹Can both fresh water and salt waterflow from the same spring?

¹²My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt springproduce fresh water.

The Wisdom from Above

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

¹⁴But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.

¹⁵Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.

Principles of Marriage

¹Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations.

²But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

³The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

⁴The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.

⁵Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command.

⁷I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

⁸Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am.

⁹But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

¹¹But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.

¹³And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.

¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

¹⁵But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called youto live in peace.

¹⁶How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live Your Calling

¹⁷Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches.

¹⁸Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.

¹⁹Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

²⁰Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.

²¹Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.

²²For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.

²³You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

²⁴Brothers, each one should remain in the situation he was in when God called him.

The Unmarried and Widowed

²⁵Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.

²⁶Because of the presentcrisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is.

²⁷Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife.

²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

²⁹What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;

³⁰those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;

³¹and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

³²I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.

³³But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife,

³⁴and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.

³⁵I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry,let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married.

³⁷But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin,he will do well.

³⁸So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.

³⁹A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.

⁴⁰In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Release from the Law

¹Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

²For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

³So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

⁵For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.

⁶But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

God’s Law Is Holy

⁷What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

⁸But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

⁹Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

¹⁰So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death.

¹¹For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.

¹²So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

Struggling with Sin

¹³Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good.

¹⁷In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

¹⁹For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.

²⁰And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

²²For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

²³But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.

²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

²⁵Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Praise the LORD from the Heavens

¹Hallelujah!Praise the LORD from the heavens;praise Him in the highest places.

²Praise Him, all His angels;praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.

³Praise Him, O sun and moon;praise Him, all you shining stars.

⁴Praise Him, O highest heavens,and you waters above the skies.

⁵Let them praise the name of the LORD,for He gave the command and they were created.

⁶He established them forever and ever;He issued a decree that will never pass away.

⁷Praise the LORD from the earth,all great sea creatures and ocean depths,

⁸lightning and hail, snow and clouds,powerful wind fulfilling His word,

⁹mountains and all hills,fruit trees and all cedars,

¹⁰wild animals and all cattle,crawling creatures and flying birds,

¹¹kings of the earth and all peoples,princes and all rulers of the earth,

¹²young men and maidens,old and young together.

¹³Let them praise the name of the LORD,for His name alone is exalted;His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

¹⁴He has raised up a horn for His people,the praise of all His saints,of Israel, a people near to Him.Hallelujah!