For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Parallel translations
- WEB For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.”
- BSB Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”
- NKJV Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
- NASB Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”
- NLT What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
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
We should plan while submitting to God's will: 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this.' All our plans must bow to God's sovereignty.
Overview
James offers the corrective to presumption: hold every plan under the Lord's will, acknowledging that both life and action depend on him. This is not a mere verbal formula but a posture of genuine submission to God's sovereign rule over our futures. It teaches believers to plan humbly and prayerfully, trusting the God who works all things according to his purpose (Proverbs 16:9; Acts 18:21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 19:21There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
- Heb 6:3And this will we do, if God permit.
- Lam 3:37Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
- Acts 18:21But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.
- Rom 1:10Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
- 1 Cor 16:7For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.
- Rom 15:32That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
- 1 Cor 4:19But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
- 2 Sam 15:25–26And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation:
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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 4:15 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
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