James 4:3

James 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
• New International Version (NIV)When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Context of James 4:3

1What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? 2You 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. And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

James 4:3 word by word

αἰτεῖτε καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετε, διότι κακῶς αἰτεῖσθε, ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ὑμῶν δαπανήσητε.Read the interlinear

• you do askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154
• you do askκαίkai · andG2532
• you do notοὐou · noG3756
• receiveλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
• becauseδιότιdioti · becauseG1360
• with wrong motivesκακῶςkakōs · badlyG2560
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• you may squanderδαπανάωdapanaō · to spendG1159
• onἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• pleasuresἡδονήhēdonē · pleasureG2237

Cross-references for James 4:3

• James 1:6But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
• Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
• Job 35:12There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.
• Psalms 18:41They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but He did not answer.
• Psalms 66:18If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
• Proverbs 1:28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
• Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
• Proverbs 21:13Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.
• Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
• Jeremiah 11:11Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.
• Jeremiah 14:12Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”
• Micah 3:4Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
• Zechariah 7:13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
• Matthew 20:22“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” the brothers answered.
• Mark 10:38“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?”
• 1 John 3:22and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.

Commentaries on James 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Ye ask, and receive not - Some think that this refers to their prayers for the conversion of the heathen; and on the pretense that they were not converted thus; they thought it lawful to extirpate them and possess their goods. Ye ask amiss - · Ye ask evilly, wickedly. Ye have not the proper dispositions of prayer, and ye have an improper object. Ye ask for worldly prosperity, that ye may employ it in riotous living. This is properly the meaning of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Ye ask, and receive not - That is, some of you ask, or you ask on some occasions. Though seeking in general what you desire by strife, and without regard to the rights of others, yet you sometimes pray. It is not uncommon for men who go to war to pray, or to procure the services of a chaplain to pray for them. It sometimes happens that the covetous and the quarrelsome; that those who live to wrong others, and who are fond of litigation, pray. Such men may…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Some of them are supposed to say in objection, But we do "ask" (pray); compare Jas 4:2. James replies, It is not enough to ask for good things, but we must ask with a good spirit and intention. "Ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it (your object of prayer) upon (literally, 'in') your lusts (literally, 'pleasures')"; not that ye may have the things you need for the service of God. Contrast Jas 1:5 with Mt 6:31,32. If ye prayed aright, all your proper…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:3

• Lust
• Sin
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Adulterer
• Amiss
• Consume
• Enmity
• Flee
• Hence
• Lust
• Resist
• Sin
• Unruly

Commentaries on James 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings