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

1From wherecomewars and fightings among you? come theynot from this, even from your lusts that war in your members? 2Ye 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. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

James 4:3 word by word

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

• askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• receiveλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
• notοὐou · noG3756
• becauseδιότιdioti · becauseG1360
• amissκακῶςkakōs · badlyG2560
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• consumeδαπανάωdapanaō · to spendG1159
• uponἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• yourὑμῶνhumōn · of youG5216
• lustsἡδονήhēdonē · pleasureG2237

Cross-references for James 4:3

• James 1:6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
• Job 27:8For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
• Job 35:12There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men.
• Psalms 18:41They cried, but there was none to save them: even to the LORD, but he answered them not.
• Psalms 66:18If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me :
• Proverbs 1:28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
• Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
• Proverbs 21:13Whoever stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
• Isaiah 1:15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
• Jeremiah 11:11Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry to me, I will not hearken to them.
• Jeremiah 14:12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
• Micah 3:4Then shall they cry to the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
• Zechariah 7:13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
• Matthew 20:22But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say to him, We are able.
• Mark 10:38But Jesus said to them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
• 1 John 3:22And whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are 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