James 3:5

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James 3:3–7 · Berean Standard Bible

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal.

4 Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.

5 In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,

Greek words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Exodus 5:2

But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”

Exodus 15:9

The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’

2 Kings 19:22

Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

2 Kings 19:23

Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest outposts, the densest of its forests.

2 Kings 19:24

I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

Job 21:14

Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.

Job 21:15

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

Job 22:17

They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’

Psalms 10:3

For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

Psalms 12:2

They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

Psalms 12:3

May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue.

Psalms 12:4

They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”

Psalms 17:10

They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.

Psalms 52:1

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.

Psalms 52:2

Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

Psalms 73:8

They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.

Psalms 73:9

They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.

Proverbs 12:18

Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 15:2

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

Proverbs 18:21

Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Jeremiah 9:3

“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:4

“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.

Jeremiah 9:5

Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.

Jeremiah 9:6

You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:7

Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?

Jeremiah 9:8

Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.

Jeremiah 18:18

Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

Ezekiel 28:2

“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.

Ezekiel 29:3

Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’

Daniel 3:15

Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

Daniel 4:30

the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

2 Peter 2:18

With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

Jude 1:16

These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

Revelation 13:5

The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.

Revelation 13:6

And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.