James 3:5 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 2021

⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

⁵ 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

⁵ 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)

⁵ 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

⁵ 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

⁵ 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.

James 3:5 Cross References

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 12:18

Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 15:2

The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

Psalm 17:10

They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

Jude 1:16

These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their lusts; their mouths utter bombastic nonsense, flattering people to their own advantage.

Jeremiah 18:18

Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for instruction shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us bring charges against him, and let us not heed any of his words.”

Psalm 10:3

For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart; those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord.

Ezekiel 28:2

Mortal, 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 mortal and no god, though you compare your mind with the mind of a god.

2 Peter 2:18

For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with debased desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error.

Daniel 4:30

and the king said, “Is this not magnificent Babylon, which I have built as a royal capital by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty?”

Job 22:17

They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’

Exodus 15:9

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.’

Daniel 3:15

Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you should fall down and worship the statue that I have made. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Ezekiel 29:3

speak and say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon sprawling in the midst of its channels, saying, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.”

Exodus 5:2

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

Psalm 39:1

I said, “I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.”

Proverbs 26:20

For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.

James 3:4

Or look at ships: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.