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James 4:3

PrayerGod's will and callingSin

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

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.

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

4 You 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.

5 Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

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Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
KJV
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
WEB
You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
ASV
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend [it] in your pleasures.
DARBY
Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask evilly, that ye may consume [it] in your pleasures.
BLB
You⁺ ask and do not receive, because you⁺ ask wrongly, that you⁺ may spend [it] in your⁺ pleasures.
ÅB
Dere ber og får ikke, fordi dere ber ille, for å øde det i deres lyster.
OTB
Når dere ber, får dere ikke, fordi dere ber med gale motiver, for at dere kan bruke det på deres lyster.
B1930
I beder og får ikke, fordi I beder ille, for å øde det i eders lyster.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

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