These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
- KJV Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
- BSB Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- NKJV Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
- NASB Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and sin fully grown brings forth death. Unchecked sinful desire follows a deadly progression.
Overview
James traces sin's lethal lifecycle: desire conceives, sin is born, and matured sin produces death. The vivid metaphor of conception and birth shows that sin is not static but grows toward destruction. This sober warning highlights humanity's need for the deliverance from sin and death that only Christ provides (Romans 6:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 7:14Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood.
- Job 15:35They conceive mischief, and produce iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit.”
- Rom 5:12–21Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.
- Gen 2:17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
- Isa 59:4No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to iniquity.
- Gen 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
- Rom 6:21–23What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- Mic 2:1–3Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- Gen 4:5–8but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell.
- Rev 20:14–15Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
- Gen 3:17–19To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and ate from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.
- Acts 5:1–3But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession,
- Matt 26:14Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests,
- Ps 9:17The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, even all the nations that forget God.
- Matt 26:48–59Now he who betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, “Whoever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him.”
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Christ at the center
The wisdom from above and the royal law of love are the life of those who belong to 'our glorious Lord Jesus Christ' — faith in him made visible in works.
How James 1:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.