James 3:5

The Passion Translation

And so the tongue is a small part of the body yet it carries great power! Just think of how a small flame can set a huge forest ablaze.

Cross References

Proverbs 18:21

Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life, and the talkative person will reap the consequences.

Proverbs 12:18

Reckless words are like the thrusts of a sword, cutting remarks meant to stab and to hurt. But the words of the wise soothe and heal.

Proverbs 15:2

When wisdom speaks, understanding becomes attractive. But the words of the fool make their ignorance look laughable.

Psalm 17:10

They are pitiless, heartless—hard as nails, swollen with pride and filled with arrogance!

Jude 1:16

These people are always complaining and never satisfied—finding fault with everyone. They follow their own evil desires and their mouths speak scandalous things. They enjoy using seductive flattery to manipulate others.

Jeremiah 18:18

Then the people said: “Come on, let’s plan a scheme against Jeremiah! There are always priests and wise ones who can give us instruction. We will still have prophets to give us Yahweh’s message. Come on, let’s attack his reputation and drum up phony charges against him. And let’s pay no attention to anything he says.”

Psalm 10:3

How they brag and boast of their cravings, exalting the greedy. They congratulate themselves as they despise you—

Ezekiel 28:2

“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Lord Yahweh says to you: “ ‘Because your heart is swollen with pride, you have said, “I am a god. I sit in the seat of a god, enthroned in the heart of the sea.” You think you are as wise as a god, but you’re nothing but a man, not a god at all!

2 Peter 2:18

They spout off with their grandiose, impressive nonsense. Consumed with the lusts of the flesh, they lure back into sin those who recently escaped from their error.

Daniel 4:30

the king began to boast: “Look at you! Is not this Babylon the great? By my brilliant wisdom, I built all this as my royal residence to display the glory of my majesty.”

Daniel 3:15

I now give you one more chance. When you hear the ram’s horn and the music of the flute, the lyre, the ten-stringed harp, the triangular harp, the drums, and all the other instruments, you will bow down to the ground and worship the golden statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a white-hot fiery furnace. So now, who is the god that can save you from my power?”

Ezekiel 29:3

Tell them what I, Lord Yahweh, say: “ ‘Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt— the great monster wallowing in its waterways. You boasted: “I made the Nile River for myself, and I own it!”

Psalm 39:1

Here’s my life motto, the truth I live by: I will guard my ways for all my days. I will speak only what is right, guarding what I speak. Like a watchman guards against an attack of the enemy, I’ll guard and muzzle my mouth when the wicked are around me. I will remain silent and will not grumble or speak out of my disappointment. But the longer I’m silent, the more my pain grows worse!

Proverbs 26:20

It takes fuel to have a fire— a fire dies down when you run out of fuel. So quarrels disappear when the gossip ends.

James 3:4

And the same with mighty ships, though they are massive and driven by fierce winds, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder at the direction of the person at the helm.