Isaiah 8:20

8:20 Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. ¹  Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. ² 

Jeremiah 23:22

23:22 But if they had stood in my inner circle, ³ 

they would have proclaimed my message to my people.

They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways

and stop doing the evil things they are doing.

Ephesians 4:29

4:29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, ⁴  that it may give grace to those who hear.

Colossians 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

James 1:19

Living Out the Message

1:19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! ⁵  Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.

James 1:26

1:26 If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile.

James 3:1-6

The Power of the Tongue

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, ⁶  because you know that we will be judged more strictly. ⁷  3:2 For we all stumble ⁸  in many ways. If someone does not stumble ⁹  in what he says, ¹⁰  he is a perfect individual, ¹¹  able to control the entire body as well. 3:3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies. ¹²  3:4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs. 3:5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, ¹³  yet it has great pretensions. ¹⁴  Think ¹⁵  how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 3:6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents ¹⁶  the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It ¹⁷  pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell. ¹⁸ 

[8:20]  ¹ tn Heb “to [the] instruction and to [the] testimony.” The words “then you must recall” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20a are one long sentence, reading literally, “When they say to you…, to the instruction and to the testimony.” On the identity of the “instruction” and “testimony” see the notes at v. 16.

[8:20]  ² tn Heb “If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because it has no light of dawn.” The literal translation suggests that “this word” refers to the instruction/testimony. However, it is likely that אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’) is asseverative here, as in 5:9. In this case “this word” refers to the quotation recorded in v. 19. For a discussion of the problem see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 230, n. 9. The singular pronoun in the second half of the verse is collective, referring back to the nation (see v. 19b).

[23:22]  ³ tn Or “had been my confidant.” See the note on v. 18.

[4:29]  ⁴ tn Grk “but if something good for the building up of the need.” The final genitive τῆς χρείας (th" creia") may refer to “the need of the moment” or it may refer to the need of a particular person or group of people as the next phrase “give grace to those who hear” indicates.

[1:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “will receive a greater judgment.”

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in speech.”

[3:2]  ¹¹ tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But it sometimes is used generically to mean “anyone,” “a person,” as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 2).

[3:3]  ¹² tn Grk “their entire body.”

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “a small member.”

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “boasts of great things.”

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Behold.”

[3:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “makes itself,” “is made.”

[3:6]  ¹⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:6]  ¹⁸ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).