Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
- KJV Do not err, my beloved brethren.
- NKJV Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
- NASB Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.
- NLT So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
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
James lovingly warns his readers not to be deceived about God's character. We must not let sin's lie distort our view of the good God.
Overview
This brief, affectionate appeal acts as a hinge, cautioning against the deception that God is the source of evil or that He withholds good. "My beloved brothers" signals James's pastoral warmth even as he corrects. The verse prepares for the great affirmation of God's unchanging goodness that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jas 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Gal 6:7Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Col 2:8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- Col 2:4I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
- Phil 2:12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
- Heb 13:1Continue in brotherly love.
- 2 Tim 2:18who have deviated from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already occurred, and they undermine the faith of some.
- Phil 4:1Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
- 1 Cor 6:9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Mark 12:24Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
- Matt 22:29Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
- Mark 12:27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 1:16 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.