James 4:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask;

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • John 16:24 : 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, so that your joy may be complete.
  • Jas 1:5 : 5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.
  • Matt 7:7-8 : 7 Ask, Seek, Knock“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
  • Luke 11:9-9 : 9 “So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
  • 1 Tim 6:9-9 : 9 Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.
  • Jas 5:1-5 : 1 Warning to the Rich Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! 4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
  • John 4:10 : 10 Jesus answered her,“If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you,‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
  • Prov 1:19 : 19 Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly; it takes away the life of those who obtain it!
  • Eccl 4:8 : 8 A man who is all alone with no companion, he has no children nor siblings; yet there is no end to all his toil, and he is never satisfied with riches. He laments,“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is futile and a burdensome task!
  • Isa 7:12 : 12 But Ahaz responded,“I don’t want to ask; I don’t want to put the LORD to a test.”
  • Hab 2:5 : 5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! His appetite is as big as Sheol’s; like death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations; he seizes all peoples.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Jas 4:3-5
    3 verses
    90%

    3you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

    4Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.

    5Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says,“The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”?

  • Jas 4:1
    86%

    1Passions and Pride Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you?

  • Gal 5:16-17
    2 verses
    71%

    16But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

    17For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

  • Jas 1:14-15
    2 verses
    71%

    14But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.

    15Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

  • Jas 3:14-16
    3 verses
    69%

    14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth.

    15Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, natural, demonic.

    16For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice.

  • Jas 5:5-6
    2 verses
    69%

    5You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

    6You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.

  • 1 John 2:16
    68%

    16because all that is in the world(the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.

  • 1 Thess 4:5
    68%

    5not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.

  • Jas 1:4-5
    2 verses
    68%

    4And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.

    5But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

  • Jas 1:7
    67%

    7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord,

  • Heb 12:4
    67%

    4You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin.

  • 1 Cor 3:3
    67%

    3for you are still influenced by the flesh. For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?

  • Jas 4:13-16
    4 verses
    67%

    13Come now, you who say,“Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”

    14You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

    15You ought to say instead,“If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”

    16But as it is, you boast about your arrogant plans. All such boasting is evil.

  • Matt 7:7
    66%

    7Ask, Seek, Knock“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.

  • 1 Thess 4:12
    66%

    12In this way you will live a decent life before outsiders and not be in need.

  • 1 Cor 6:7-8
    2 verses
    66%

    7The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

    8But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters!

  • Gen 4:7
    66%

    7Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”

  • Jas 2:11
    66%

    11For he who said,“Do not commit adultery,” also said,“Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law.

  • John 5:40
    66%

    40but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

  • Jas 2:4
    66%

    4If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?

  • Matt 6:8
    66%

    8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

  • Luke 11:9
    66%

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

  • Jas 5:9
    65%

    9Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. See, the judge stands before the gates!

  • 1 Tim 6:9
    65%

    9Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

  • Col 3:5
    65%

    5So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

  • 1 Cor 4:8
    65%

    8Already you are satisfied! Already you are rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you had become kings so that we could reign with you!

  • Luke 12:29-31
    3 verses
    65%

    29So do not be overly concerned about what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not worry about such things.

    30For all the nations of the world pursue these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

    31Instead, pursue his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

  • Gal 5:26
    65%

    26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.

  • 1 Pet 4:4
    65%

    4So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you.

  • Prov 21:25
    65%

    25What the sluggard desires will kill him, for his hands have refused to work.

  • 1 Cor 5:2
    64%

    2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you?

  • Hos 4:2
    64%

    2There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery. They resort to violence and bloodshed.

  • Rom 7:7
    64%

    7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said,“Do not covet.”

  • 1 Pet 2:11
    64%

    11Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,

  • Isa 58:4
    64%

    4Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

  • Prov 13:4
    64%

    4The appetite of the sluggard craves but gets nothing, but the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied.