You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Parallel translations
- WEB You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
- KJV Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
- BSB You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
- NKJV You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
- NLT You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
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
Believing that God is one is good, but even the demons believe that and shudder. Mere intellectual assent is not saving faith.
Overview
James grants that orthodox belief in one God (the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4) is right, but warns that bare belief is not enough—demons share that conviction and tremble. Saving faith is more than mental agreement with true facts; it is a wholehearted trust that transforms life. Right doctrine without surrendered obedience leaves one no better off than the demons.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 31
- Luke 4:34saying, “Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!”
- Mark 1:24saying, “Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!”
- Matt 8:29Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
- Acts 16:17Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!”
- Deut 6:4Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.
- Gal 3:20Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.
- Acts 19:15The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”
- Mark 5:7and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.”
- Isa 44:8Don’t fear, neither be afraid. Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don’t know any other Rock.”
- Zech 14:9Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
- Isa 46:9Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.
- Isa 44:6This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
- 1 Tim 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Isa 43:10“You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh, “With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.
- Mark 12:29Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one:
- John 17:3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
- 1 Cor 8:6yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.
- Rom 3:30since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith.
- Isa 45:6that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.
- Eph 4:5–6one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
- Isa 45:21–22Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior; There is no one besides me.
- Rev 20:10The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- 1 Cor 8:4Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
- Rev 20:2–3He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years,
- Jude 1:6Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
- Jas 2:8However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
- Mark 7:9He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
- Jude 1:4For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Jonah 4:4Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
- Acts 24:25As he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was terrified, and answered, “Go your way for this time, and when it is convenient for me, I will summon you.”
- Jonah 4:9God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 2:19 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
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