Parallel Verses
NET Bible
So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze.
New American Standard Bible
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it
King James Version
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Holman Bible
So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things.
International Standard Version
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it can boast of great achievements. A huge forest can be set on fire by a little flame.
A Conservative Version
So also the tongue is a little body-part, and boasts greatly. Behold a little fire, how much wood it kindles.
American Standard Version
So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire!
Amplified
In the same sense, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See [by comparison] how great a forest is set on fire by a small spark!
An Understandable Version
So, the tongue is a small part [of the body], yet it boasts of great accomplishments. Look at how large a forest is burned up by even a tiny spark.
Anderson New Testament
So, also, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold, how great a forest does a little fire set in a blaze.
Bible in Basic English
Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire!
Common New Testament
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
Daniel Mace New Testament
so the tongue is but a small part of the body, yet how grand are its pretensions. a spark of fire! what quantities of timber will it blow into a flame?
Darby Translation
Thus also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how little a fire, how large a wood it kindles!
Godbey New Testament
so also the tongue is a little member, and it boasts great things. Behold, how great a wood a little fire kindles!
Goodspeed New Testament
So the tongue is a little organ and yet very boastful. What a great forest a spark will set on fire!
John Wesley New Testament
So the tongue also is a little member, yet boasteth great things. Behold how much matter a little fire kindleth.
Julia Smith Translation
So also the tongue is a small member, and vaunts itself. Behold, how great a wood a little fire inflames
King James 2000
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold, how great a forest a little fire kindles!
Lexham Expanded Bible
So also the tongue is a small member [of the body] and boasts great [things]. Behold how small a fire sets ablaze how great a forest!
Modern King James verseion
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold how little a fire kindles how large a forest!
Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale
even so the tongue is little member and boasteth great things. Behold how great a thing a little fire kindleth,
Moffatt New Testament
So the tongue is a small member of the body, but it can boast of great exploits. What a forest is set ablaze by a little spark of fire!
Montgomery New Testament
So also the tongue is a small member and makes great boasts. Behold, how great a forest is set on fire by a little spark!
New Heart English Bible
So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest.
Noyes New Testament
So also the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a forest a little fire kindleth!
Sawyer New Testament
so also the tongue is a small member and boasts of great things. Behold, how much wood a little fire kindles!
The Emphasized Bible
So, also, the tongue, is, a little member, and yet, of great things, maketh boast. Lo! how small a fire, kindleth, how great a forest;
Thomas Haweis New Testament
So also the tongue is a little member, and proudly vaunts. Behold how great a pile of wood, a little fire kindleth!
Twentieth Century New Testament
So is it with the tongue. Small as it is, it is a great boaster. Think how tiny a spark may set the largest forest ablaze!
Webster
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Weymouth New Testament
In the same way the tongue is an insignificant part of the body, but it is immensely boastful. Remember how a mere spark may set a vast forest in flames.
Williams New Testament
So the tongue, too, is a little organ but can boast of great achievements. See how a spark, ever so tiny, can set a vast forest on fire!
World English Bible
So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
Worrell New Testament
So also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold, how small a fire kindles how great a forest!
Worsley New Testament
So the tongue is a small part of the body, yet boasteth great things. Behold how much fuel a little fire kindleth!
Youngs Literal Translation
so also the tongue is a little member, and doth boast greatly; lo, a little fire how much wood it doth kindle!
Themes
Boasting » Boasting, the folly of
Fire » Characterized as » Spreading
Fire » Though small, kindles a great matter
Interlinear
References
Fausets
Watsons
Word Count of 37 Translations in James 3:5
Verse Info
Context Readings
Restraining The Tongue
4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot's inclination directs. 5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence -- and is set on fire by hell.
Cross References
Psalm 73:8-9
They mock and say evil things; they proudly threaten violence.
Psalm 10:3
Yes, the wicked man boasts because he gets what he wants; the one who robs others curses and rejects the Lord.
Psalm 12:2-4
People lie to one another; they flatter and deceive.
Psalm 17:10
They are calloused; they speak arrogantly.
Psalm 52:1-2
For the music director; a well-written song by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: "David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech." Why do you boast about your evil plans, O powerful man? God's loyal love protects me all day long!
Proverbs 12:18
Speaking recklessly is like the thrusts of a sword, but the words of the wise bring healing.
Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise treats knowledge correctly, but the mouth of the fool spouts out folly.
Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love its use will eat its fruit.
Jeremiah 9:3-8
The Lord says, "These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. Indeed, they do one evil thing after another and do not pay attention to me.
Jeremiah 18:18
Then some people said, "Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God's word. Come on! Let's bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says."
Ezekiel 28:2
"Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: "'Your heart is proud and you said, "I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas" -- yet you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike.
Revelation 13:5-6
The beast was given a mouth speaking proud words and blasphemies, and he was permitted to exercise ruling authority for forty-two months.
Exodus 5:2
But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey him by releasing Israel? I do not know the Lord, and I will not release Israel!"
Exodus 15:9
The enemy said, 'I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.'
2 Kings 19:22-24
Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at? At whom have you shouted, and looked so arrogantly? At the Holy One of Israel!
Job 21:14-15
So they say to God, 'Turn away from us! We do not want to know your ways.
Job 22:17
They were saying to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'
Ezekiel 29:3
Tell them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: "'Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster lying in the midst of its waterways, who has said, "My Nile is my own, I made it for myself."
Daniel 3:15
Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don't pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?"
Daniel 4:30
The king uttered these words: "Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence by my own mighty strength and for my majestic honor?"
2 Peter 2:18
For by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and with debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error.
Jude 1:16
These people are grumblers and fault-finders who go wherever their desires lead them, and they give bombastic speeches, enchanting folks for their own gain.