James 4:2 “You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to…”

James 4:2

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.

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

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.

World English Bible

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.

American Standard Version

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.

Geneva Bible 1599

Ye lust, and haue not: ye enuie, and desire immoderately, and cannot obtaine: ye fight and warre, and get nothing, because ye aske not.

Darby Translation

Ye lust and have not: ye kill and are full of envy, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war; ye have not because ye ask not.

Young's Literal Translation

ye desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking;

Bible in Basic English

You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it.

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Cross references

“lust”

James 5:1–5 Proverbs 1:19 Habakkuk 2:5 1 Timothy 6:9 1 Timothy 6:10 Ecclesiastes 4:8

James 5:1–5 · BSB

Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.

Proverbs 1:19 · BSB

Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

Habakkuk 2:5 · BSB

and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his ow…

1 Timothy 6:9 · BSB

Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

1 Timothy 6:10 · BSB

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Ecclesiastes 4:8 · BSB

There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—…

“because”

John 16:24 James 1:5 Luke 11:9–13 John 4:10 Isaiah 7:12 Matthew 7:7

John 16:24 · BSB

Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

James 1:5 · BSB

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Luke 11:9–13 · BSB

So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

John 4:10 · BSB

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Isaiah 7:12 · BSB

But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”

Matthew 7:7 · BSB

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

1What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?

3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

Read James 4