Do not become many  ¹teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive greater  ²judgment.

For in many things we all stumble. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

Now if we put bridles into the mouths of horses that they would obey us, we direct their whole body as well.

Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the pilot wills.

So also the tongue is a little member yet boasts great things. Behold, how great a forest so little a  ¹fire ignites!

And the tongue is a  ¹fire; the very world of unrighteousness, the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the whole body and sets on fire the  ²course of life and is set on fire by  ³Gehenna.

For every nature, both of beasts and of birds, both of reptiles and of creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human  ¹nature;

But the tongue no one among men is able to tame; it is a  ¹restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made according to the likeness of God.

Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, ought not to be so.

Does the spring, out of the same  ¹opening, gush forth the sweet and the bitter?

Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives? Or a vine, figs? Neither can  ¹salt water produce sweet.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show  ¹by his good manner of life his  ²works in  ³meekness of wisdom.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth.

 ¹This wisdom is not that which descends from above, but is  ²earthly, soulish, demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there disorder and every worthless practice are.

But the  ¹wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,  ²forbearing,  ³compliant, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, without hypocrisy.

And the  ¹fruit of righteousness is sown in peace  ²by those who make peace.

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, put forth a riddle, and utter a parable to the house of Israel;

And say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, A great  ¹eagle with great wings, long pinions, and full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

He cropped off its topmost young  ¹twig and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders.

He also took some of the seed of the land and put it in a fertile field; he took it and set it by abundant waters like a willow,

That it might sprout and become a low, running vine with its branches turned toward him and its roots under him. And it became a vine and produced offshoots and sent forth boughs.

And there was another great  ¹eagle with great wings and much plumage; and then this vine bent its roots toward him, and from the beds where it was planted it sent out its branches toward him that he might water it.

In a good field by abundant waters it had been transplanted so that it would produce branches and bear fruit, that it might be a magnificent vine.

Say then, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit so that it withers? All its fresh sprouting leaves will wither, even without great strength or a mighty people pulling it up from its roots.

And indeed, though it has been transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not wither completely once the east wind touches it? In the beds where it was planted it will wither.

Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Say, Indeed the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and he took its  ¹king and its rulers and brought them to him at Babylon.

And he took  ¹someone of the royal seed and made a covenant with him and put him under an oath. He also took the mighty men of the land,

That the kingdom might be humble, that it might not lift itself up, but by keeping his covenant, it might stand.

But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does these things escape? Can he break the covenant and slip away?

As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, surely in the land of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, with him in the midst of Babylon he will die.

And Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not aid him in battle, when they cast up mounds and build siegeworks to cut off many lives.

Indeed, he despised the oath by breaking the covenant; yes, he even gave his hand and yet did all these things; he will not slip away.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, As I live, surely My oath, which he despised, and My covenant, which he broke, I will bring upon his head.

And I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there concerning his unfaithfulness by which he has been unfaithful to Me.

And all his  ¹choice men with all his armies will fall by the sword, and those who are left will be scattered into every wind; and you will know that I, Jehovah, have spoken.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will also take a  ¹twig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out; from the topmost of its young twigs I will crop off a tender one, and I will transplant it upon a high and prominent mountain.

On the high mountain of Israel I will transplant it; and it will bear branches and produce fruit and will become a magnificent cedar; and under it all birds of every kind will nest; in the shade of its branches they will nest.

And all the trees of the field will know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the exalted tree and have exalted the lowly tree, that I have dried up the green tree and have made the dry tree bud. I, Jehovah, have spoken, and I will do it.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, the use of this parable will no longer be with you in Israel.

Indeed all souls are Mine; indeed as is the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins, he shall die.

But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,

And does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and does not defile his neighbor's wife or come near a menstruous woman;

And if a man does not oppress anyone but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not plunder but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment;

If he does not lend with interest or collect with an increase; if he withdraws his hand from iniquity and exercises true justice between man and man;

If he walks in My statutes and keeps My judgments to do truth — he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord Jehovah.

But if he begets a violent son, one who sheds blood or does only one of these things

(Though he himself has done none of these things); if he even eats upon the mountains or defiles his neighbor's wife,

Oppresses the poor and needy, commits plunder, does not restore the pledge, or lifts his eyes to the idols and commits abomination,

Lends with interest or collects with an increase; then will he live? He shall not live. He has committed all these abominations; he shall surely die. His blood shall be upon him.

But if he begets a son, and the son sees all the sins of his father that he has done, and he sees and does not do the like;

He does not eat upon the mountains and does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife,

Does not oppress anyone, does not keep the pledge and does not plunder, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment,

Takes his hand off the poor and does not collect with interest or increase, does My ordinances and walks in My statutes; he shall not die for his father's iniquity; he shall surely live.

As for his father, because he practiced extortion, plundered his brother, and did that which was not good in the midst of his people, indeed he shall die for his iniquity.

Yet you say, Why? Does not the son share the punishment for the father's iniquity? When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live.

The soul who sins, he shall die; the son shall not share the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor shall the father share the punishment for the son's iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous man shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man shall be upon him.

But if the wicked man turns from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of his righteousness that he has practiced he shall live.

Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord Jehovah, and not in his turning away from his ways that he may live?

But when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity and commits all the abominations that the wicked man commits, will he live? None of his righteousness that he has practiced shall be remembered. Because of his unfaithfulness in which he has acted unfaithfully and because of his sin which he has sinned, because of them, he shall die.

Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair?

When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity and dies as a consequence, because of his iniquity that he has practiced he shall die.

Again, when a wicked man turns from his wickedness that he has practiced and practices justice and righteousness, he shall save his life.

Because he sees and turns from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Yet the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not fair. Are My ways not fair, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not fair?

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his ways, declares the Lord Jehovah.  ¹Repent, and turn away from all your transgressions so that iniquity will not become a stumbling block to you.

Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

For I take no pleasure in the death of him who dies, declares the Lord Jehovah; therefore turn and live.

But you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

And say,
What was your mother?
A lioness among lions.
She lay in the midst of young lions;
She brought up her whelps.

When she raised up one of her whelps,
He became a young lion;
And he learned to take prey;
He devoured men.

Then the nations heard of him;
He was captured in their pit,
And they brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.

When she saw that she had waited,
That her hope was lost,
She took another one of her whelps;
She made him a young lion.

And he went about among the lions;
He became a young lion.
And he learned to take prey;
He devoured men.

And he  ¹destroyed their citadels
And laid waste their cities;
And the land and its fullness were horrified
At the sound of his roaring.

Then the nations set against him
All around from the provinces
And spread their net over him;
He was captured in their pit.

And they put him in a cage with hooks
And brought him to the king of Babylon —
They brought him into strongholds —
That his voice would no longer be heard
Upon the mountains of Israel.

Your mother was like a vine in your  ¹vineyard,
Transplanted beside the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant waters.

And it had strong branches
For scepters of those who rule;
And its height was exalted among the leafy boughs,
And it was visible in its height because of the multitude of its branches.

But it was plucked up in wrath;
It was cast down to the ground;
And the east wind dried up its fruit;
Its strong branch was broken off and it withered;
The fire consumed it.

And now it is transplanted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.

And fire has gone forth from its branch;
It has consumed its offshoots and its fruit,
So that there is no strong branch in it,
A scepter to rule.
This is a lamentation and it has become a lamentation.