EasyEnglish Bible 2018
James 1:6
6But when you ask God for something, you must trust him completely. Do not have other ideas in your mind. People who are not sure that God will help them are like the waves in the sea. The wind blows the water one way and then it blows the water another way.
James 1:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
- New International Version (NIV)But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
Context of James 1:6
4So you should continue to trust God all the time. Then you will become stronger as a believer. You will become completely how you should be. You will not need anything more. 5But maybe you need to know how to be wise. Then ask God to help you. He is ready to give everyone what they need. And he never says that it is wrong to ask. So God will help you to be wise. But when you ask God for something, you must trust him completely. Do not have other ideas in your mind. People who are not sure that God will help them are like the waves in the sea. The wind blows the water one way and then it blows the water another way. 7A person who is like that never knows what to do. He has many ideas in his mind. He should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
Read all of James 1James 1:6 word by word
αἰτείτω δὲ ἐν πίστει μηδὲν διακρινόμενος· ὁ γὰρ διακρινόμενος ἔοικεν κλύδωνι θαλάσσης ἀνεμιζομένῳ καὶ ῥιπιζομένῳ.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Butδέde · thenG1161
- let him askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- faithπίστιςpistis · faithG4102
- nothingμηδείςmēdeis mēdemia mēden · nothingG3367
- waveringδιακρίνωdiakrinō · to judge/doubtG1252
- Forγάρgar · forG1063
- is likeεἴκωeikō · to resembleG1503
- a waveκλύδωνkludōn · wavesG2830
- of the seaθάλασσαthalassa · seaG2281
- driven with the windἀνεμίζομαιanemizō · be wind-blownG416
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- tossedῥιπίζωrhipizō · to toss aboutG4494
Cross-references for James 1:6
- Matthew 21:22So when you pray to ask God for something, believe in him. Then God will give you whatever you ask for.’
- Mark 11:22So Jesus said to them, ‘You must believe in God.
- 1 Timothy 2:8So then, in every place where you meet together, I want the men to pray. The men who lift up their hands and pray must be those who live good lives. They must not be people who are angry or who quarrel with others.
- Hebrews 11:6Unless we trust God, it is impossible for us to make God happy. Anyone who comes to God must believe that God is there. They must also believe that God helps everyone who wants to know him.
- Genesis 49:4Yet you are as wild as the sea. You had sex with your father's slave wife. This bad thing brought me shame. So you will not become great.
- Ephesians 4:14So then we will not be like children any more. Our minds will not become confused by strange ideas. We will not change what we believe, from one thing to another. Some people teach things that are not true. They do clever things to deceive people. But we will not agree with their false message.
- Hebrews 10:23We know that we can trust God to do the things that he has promised. So we must continue to expect those things. We must tell other people that we trust God. We should not stop doing that.
- Hebrews 13:9Some people teach all kinds of strange new things. Do not let them lead you away from God's true message. It is good that God is very kind to us. That is what makes us strong inside ourselves. Rules about what foods we should eat do not make us strong like that. Those rules have never helped the people who tried to obey them.
- 2 Peter 2:17These false teachers promise good things that will never happen. They are like a dry well that has no water. They are like clouds in a storm which the wind blows away so that no rain comes. God will certainly send them to the darkest place in hell. He has kept that place ready for them.
- Jude 1:12When you eat special meals together as believers, those false teachers meet with you. But they are dangerous! They will stop you showing your love for one another. They come only because they want to eat too much. They do not respect God or other people. They only think about themselves and they are not ashamed. They are like clouds that you think will bring rain. But the wind blows those clouds along and there is no rain. They are like trees that have no fruit, even at the time for harvest. People pull trees like that out of the ground. They are completely dead and can give no fruit.
Commentaries on James 1:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Let him ask in faith - Believing that God IS; that he has all good; and that he is ever ready to impart to his creatures whatever they need. Nothing wavering - · Not judging otherwise; having no doubt concerning the truth of these grand and fundamental principles, never supposing that God will permit him to ask in vain, when he asks sincerely and fervently. Let him not hesitate, let him not be irresolute; no man can believe too much good of God. Is like a…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6But let him ask in faith - See the passages referred to in James 1:5. Compare the Matthew 7:7 note, and Hebrews 11:6 note. We cannot hope to obtain any favor from God if there is not faith; and where, as in regard to the wisdom necessary to guide us, we are sure that it is in accordance with his will to grant it to us, we may come to him with the utmost confidence, the most entire assurance, that it will be granted. In this case, we should come to God…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6without doubting, because he who doubts: The Greek is often translated "Do not doubt, for a person who doubts," but it means someone torn between loyalty to God and the world (see 1:8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. ask in faith--that is, the persuasion that God can and will give. James begins and ends with faith. In the middle of the Epistle he removes the hindrances to faith and shows its true character [Bengel]. wavering--between belief and unbelief. Compare the case of the Israelites, who seemed to partly believe in God's power, but leaned more to unbelief by "limiting" it. On the other hand, compare Ac 10:20; Ro 4:20 ("staggered not ... through unbelief,"…Read the comment
Topics related to James 1:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on James 1
- 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
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- 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
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