For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
Parallel translations
- WEB For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.
- BSB For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
- NKJV For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
- NASB For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
- NLT For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
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
Where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil. False wisdom breeds chaos and wickedness.
Overview
James names the fruit of false wisdom: jealousy and rivalry produce confusion, instability, and all sorts of evil practices. Such disorder is the opposite of the peace God's wisdom brings. The destructive effects confirm that this so-called wisdom is not of God and must be rejected.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jas 3:14But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
- 1 Cor 3:3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
- 1 Cor 14:33For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
- 1 Jn 3:12Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- Gal 5:20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
- Gen 11:9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
- Acts 19:29And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:16 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.