Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!
Parallel translations
- WEB Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
- KJV Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
- NKJV Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
- NASB from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
- NLT And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Blessing and cursing should not come from the same mouth. Such double-tongued speech is unfitting for God's people.
Overview
James states plainly that this inconsistency ought not to exist among believers. The mixing of praise and cursing contradicts the wholehearted devotion God desires, echoing the letter's concern with double-mindedness. Transformed lives should yield consistent, life-giving speech that honors both God and neighbor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Rom 12:14Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
- 1 Pet 3:9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
- Ps 50:16–20To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
- 1 Cor 3:3for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?
- 1 Tim 5:13At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.
- Mic 3:11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
- Jer 7:4–10Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
- Gen 20:9Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”
- 2 Sam 13:12“No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The wisdom from above and the royal law of love are the life of those who belong to 'our glorious Lord Jesus Christ' — faith in him made visible in works.
How James 3:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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