You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask.
Parallel translations
- KJV Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
- BSB You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.
- ESV You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
- NKJV You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
- NASB You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
- NLT You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Unchecked craving leads to murder, covetousness, and conflict, yet still leaves people empty. They lack because they do not ask God.
Overview
James exposes the futility of grasping: desire that bypasses God produces strife and still fails to satisfy. The strong language of murder and war may be hyperbole for bitter hostility, though it underscores how deadly covetousness can grow. The remedy he hints at is prayerful dependence on God rather than self-willed striving, a theme he develops in the following verses.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- John 16:24Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
- Matt 7:7–8“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
- Jas 1:5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
- Luke 11:9–13“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
- John 4:10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
- 1 Tim 6:9–10But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction.
- Prov 1:19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.
- Jas 5:1–5Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
- Hab 2:5Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A haughty man who doesn’t stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can’t be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples.
- Isa 7:12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.”
- Eccl 4:8There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.
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 4:2 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.