James 1:4
What does James 1:4 mean?
A plain-English look at James 1:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What James 1:4 means
James urges believers to let steadfastness run its full course. Don’t short-circuit the process by quitting or by grasping for quick fixes. God’s aim is that you become “perfect and entire”—mature, whole, and lacking nothing essential for godly living. The language points to integrity, a life not fragmented by competing loyalties. Endurance under trial is one of God’s chief tools for such wholeness. Maturity is not instantaneous; it emerges as faith remains under pressure, shaped by God’s wise hands. When perseverance completes its work, believers find themselves better equipped, more stable, and more like Christ in character, reflecting the completeness God desires for his people.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
KJV
King James Version · 1611But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and let the endurance have a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire--in nothing lacking;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And patience hath a perfect work: that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890But let endurance have [its] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Context
This completes the thought begun in verses 2–3: joy in trials is warranted because testing produces endurance, and endurance produces maturity. The trajectory leads from experience (trials) to character (steadfastness) to outcome (wholeness). Recognizing that we often feel inadequate in trials, James next turns to the essential resource believers need—wisdom from God (verse 5). Verses 5–8 will show how to obtain wisdom and the danger of divided, doubting hearts that would undermine the maturing process God intends.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Galatians 6:9
And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
- Matthew 5:48
Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
- James 5:7
Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.
- Habakkuk 2:3
For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.
- James 1:5
But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
- James 3:2
For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
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