35 Bible Verses about Smallness

Most Relevant Verses

James 3:4-5

And look at the ships. Even though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. 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!

Genesis 19:20

Now look, this town [in the distance] is near enough for us to flee to, and it is small [with only a few people]. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) so that my life will be saved.”

Exodus 12:4

Now if the household is too small for a lamb [to be consumed], let him and his next door neighbor take one according to the number of people [in the households]; according to what each man can eat, you are to divide the lamb.

Joshua 17:15

Then Joshua replied, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

1 Kings 17:13

Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. Just make me a little bread from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.

1 Kings 18:44

And at the seventh time the servant said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And Elijah said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the rain shower does not stop you.’”

1 Kings 20:27

The sons of Israel were counted and given provisions, and they went to meet them. The Israelites camped before the enemy like two little flocks of goats [with everything against them, except God], and the Arameans filled the country.

2 Kings 4:10

Please, let us make a small, fully-walled upper room [on the housetop] and put a bed there for him, with a table, a chair, and a lampstand. Then whenever he comes to visit us, he can turn in there.”

2 Kings 6:1

Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look now, the place where we live near you is too small for us.

Proverbs 30:24-28


There are four things that are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:

The ants are not a strong people,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;

The shephanim are not a mighty folk,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
read more.

The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in groups;

You may grasp the lizard with your hands,
Yet it is in kings’ palaces.

Isaiah 49:19-20


“For your ruins and desolate places and your land [once the scene] of destruction—
Certainly now [in the coming years] will be too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who once engulfed you will be far away.

“The children of your bereavement [those born in captivity] will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me’;
Make room for me that I may live here.

Micah 5:2


“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah;
From you One shall come forth for Me [who is] to be Ruler in Israel,
His goings forth (appearances) are from long ago,
From ancient days.”

Matthew 7:14

But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 17:20

He answered, “Because of your little faith [your lack of trust and confidence in the power of God]; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have [living] faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and [if it is God’s will] it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Luke 17:6

And the Lord said, “If you have [confident, abiding] faith in God [even as small] as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree [which has very strong roots], ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’; and [if the request was in agreement with the will of God] it would have obeyed you.

Acts 27:16

We ran under the shelter of a small island [twenty-five miles south of Crete] called Clauda, and with great difficulty we were able to get the ship’s skiff on the deck and secure it.

Deuteronomy 1:17

You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear and pay attention to the [cases of the] least [important] as well as the great. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you [to judge], you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’

1 Kings 22:31

Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with [anyone, either] small or great, but with [Ahab] the king of Israel alone.”

2 Chronicles 18:30

Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with the small or the great, but only with the king of Israel.”

2 Chronicles 15:13

and that whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.

Job 3:16-19


“Or like a miscarriage which is hidden and put away, I would not exist,
Like infants who never saw light.

“There [in death] the wicked cease from raging,
And there the weary are at rest.

“There the prisoners rest together;
They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.
read more.

“The small and the great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.

Psalm 115:13


He will bless those who fear and worship the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder],
Both the small and the great.

Jeremiah 49:15


“For behold, [Edom] I have made you small among the nations
And despised among men.

Acts 26:22

But I have had help from God to this day, and I stand [before people] testifying to small and great alike, stating nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said would come to pass—

Revelation 11:18

And the nations (Gentiles) became enraged, and Your wrath and indignation came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and [the time came] to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints (God’s people) and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and [the time came] to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”

Revelation 13:16

Also he compels all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead [signifying allegiance to the beast],

Revelation 19:5

Then from the throne there came a voice, saying,

“Praise our God, all you bond-servants of His, you who fear Him, the small (common) and the great (distinguished).”

Revelation 20:12

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged according to what they had done as written in the books [that is, everything done while on earth].

1 Samuel 18:23

So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David. But David said, “Is it a trivial thing in your sight to become a king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and insignificant?”

1 Samuel 15:17

Samuel said, “Is it not true that even though you were small (insignificant) in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel,

1 Samuel 20:2

Jonathan said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing important or insignificant without telling me. So why would he hide this thing from me? It is not so!”

1 Kings 2:20

Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

Luke 19:17

And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you proved yourself faithful and trustworthy in a very little thing, you shall [now] have authority over ten cities [in my kingdom].’

Amos 7:2-5

And when the locusts had finished eating the plants of the land, then I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand,
For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?”

The Lord revoked this sentence.
“It shall not take place,” said the Lord. Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep [underground sources of water] and began to consume the land. read more.
Then I said,

“O Lord God, please stop!
How can Jacob stand,
For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?”

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