Língua

21 Words can bring death or life!

Talk too much, and you will eat

everything you say.

2 *All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.

3 By putting a bit into the mouth of a horse, we can turn the horse in different directions. 4 It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction. 5 Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things.

It takes only a spark to start a forest fire! 6 *The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person’s entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed. 8 But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison.

9,10 *My dear friends, with our tongues we speak both praises and curses. We praise our Lord and Father, and we curse people who were created to be like God, and this isn’t right. 11 Can clean water and dirty water both flow from the same spring? 12 Can a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? Does fresh water come from a well full of salt water?

15 Patience and gentle talk

can convince a ruler

and overcome any problem.

18 Sharp words cut like a sword,

but words of wisdom heal.

19 Truth will last forever;

lies are soon found out.

19 You will say the wrong thing

if you talk too much—

so be sensible and watch

what you say.

28 *Even fools seem smart

when they are quiet.

26 If you think you are being religious, but can’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is useless.

A Prayer for Forgiveness

1 I told myself, "I’ll be careful

not to sin by what I say,

and I’ll muzzle my mouth

when evil people are near."

12 *Do you want to live

and enjoy a long life?

13 Then don’t say cruel things

and don’t tell lies.

30 Words of wisdom come

when good people speak

for justice.

31 They remember God’s teachings,

and they never take

a wrong step.

28 Then I will shout all day,

"Praise the Lord God!

He did what was right."

4 Before I even speak a word,

you know what I will say,

2 "Come and save me, Lord,

from deceitful liars!"

3 Won’t you chop off

all flattering tongues

that brag so loudly?

4 They say to themselves,

"We are great speakers.

No one else has a chance."

9 Confuse my enemies, Lord!

Upset their plans.

Cruelty and violence

are all I see in the city,

9 Then God gave Christ

the highest place

and honored his name

above all others.

10 *So at the name of Jesus

everyone will bow down,

those in heaven, on earth,

and under the earth.

11 And to the glory

of God the Father

everyone will openly agree,

"Jesus Christ is Lord!"

Love

1 What if I could speak

all languages of humans

and even of angels?

If I did not love others,

I would be nothing more

than a noisy gong

or a clanging cymbal.

36 I promise you on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. 37 On that day they will be told they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.

5 But when the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower, 6 he said:

These people are working together because they all speak the same language. This is just the beginning. Soon they will be able to do anything they want. 7 Let’s go down and confuse them! We’ll make them speak different languages, and they won’t be able to understand each other.

8,9 So the people had to stop building the city, because the Lord confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That’s how the city of Babel* got its name.