Read the Bible
KING JAMES BIBLE · PCE

James 3:12

TEXT EDITION
Pure Cambridge Edition selected
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
Share
Email linkOpen a new message in your email app
Read chapterReport issue
More

PASSAGE SELECTION

Build from either side

1 selected · 17 available

Add or remove verses within this chapter. The study tools update with the selected passage.

SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE

Cross References

All 9 ranked passages are available for comparison.

From verse 12

  1. Luke 6:43–44Rank 1 from verse 12
    Open

    43For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

    44For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

  2. Matthew 12:33Rank 2 from verse 12
    Open

    33Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

  3. Matthew 7:16–20Rank 3 from verse 12
    Open

    16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

    17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

    18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

    19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

    20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

  4. Jeremiah 2:21Rank 4 from verse 12
    Open

    21Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

  5. Romans 11:16–18Rank 5 from verse 12
    Open

    16For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

    17And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

    18Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

  6. Ezekiel 47:8–11Rank 6 from verse 12
    Open

    8Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

    9And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

    10And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

    11But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

  7. Isaiah 5:2–4Rank 7 from verse 12
    Open

    2And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

    3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

    4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

  8. 2 Kings 2:19–22Rank 8 from verse 12
    Open

    19¶ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.

    20And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.

    21And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

    22So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

  9. Exodus 15:23–25Rank 9 from verse 12
    Open

    23¶ And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

    24And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

    25And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

WORDS IN THIS PASSAGE

Definitions

Open a word for its full definition and concordance.

DEFINED WORDS

James 3:12

COMBINED MEANING

brethren

↗

1. Persons of the same people, tribe, community, or shared service who are regarded or addressed as brothers. 2. Persons regarded as brothers by reason of faith or another spiritual relation. 3. Male siblings or other male relatives.

Meaning drawn from: Direct Scripture definition · KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

bear

↗

Sense 1: To carry, support, convey, endure, sustain, or be answerable for. Sense 2: To produce or bring forth offspring, fruit, or another result. Sense 3: In ‘bear witness’ or ‘bear record,’ to testify or give witness. Sense 4: A large wild animal.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

vine

↗

Sense 1: A climbing or spreading plant, commonly a grapevine. Sense 2: A person or people represented by such a plant.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

yield

↗

1. To produce or give forth. 2. To give or grant. 3. To surrender or submit.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

water

↗

Sense 1: The common liquid necessary for life. Sense 2: As a verb, to supply with water, irrigate, or cause to drink.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

fresh

↗

New or newly supplied; not stale, faded, or exhausted; sometimes moist or vigorous.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

READ THE PASSAGE

View in context

Suggested context · James 3:1–12

The selected passage is highlighted. Context is a study aid.

3:1MY brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

3:2For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3:3Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

3:4Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

3:5Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

3:6And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

3:7For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

3:8But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

3:9Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

3:10Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

3:11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

3:12Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

Selected passage

LOCAL PASTOR DIRECTORY

Ask a Pastor Near You

Enter a U.S. ZIP code to find nearby pastors committed to holding fast the faithful word.

Your ZIP is processed in this browser from local data. It is not sent to a ZIP lookup service or to a church. ZIP coordinates from GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0.