They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
James 3:5 - Revised Standard Version (RSV-CI) So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze! American Standard Version (1901) So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire! Common English Bible In the same way, even though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts wildly. Think about this: A small flame can set a whole forest on fire. Catholic Public Domain Version So also the tongue certainly is a small part, but it moves great things. Consider that a small fire can set ablaze a great forest. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Even so the tongue is indeed a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how small a fire kindleth a great wood. |
They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
For the wicked boasts of the desires of his heart, and the man greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will bridle my mouth, so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
For lack of wood the fire goes out; and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not heed any of his words.”
“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you consider yourself as wise as a god—
speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it.’
Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image which I have made, well and good; but if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace; and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
and the king said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
Look at the ships also; though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in error.
These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own passions, loud-mouthed boasters, flattering people to gain advantage.