James 4:2

 James 4:2

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.

a. ASV: Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: 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;[The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Peshitta Eastern Text: You covet, and do not obtain; you kill and envy, but you cannot possess; you strive and fight, yet you have nothing, because you do not ask. [HOLY BIBLE FROM THE ANCIENT EASTERN TEXT. Copyright  Ⓒ 1933 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1968 by A.J. Holmon Co.; All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.]

e. NLT: You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

1. “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.”

a. [Ye] lust [Strong: 1937 epithyméō, ep-ee-thoo-meh'-o; from G1909 and G2372; to set the heart upon, i.e. long for (rightfully or otherwise):—covet, desire, would fain, lust (after).]

b. and [Strong: 2532 kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

c. have [Strong: 2192 échō, ekh'-o; a primary verb; to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remote; such as possession; ability, contiuity, relation, or condition):—be (able, × hold, possessed with), accompany, + begin to amend, can(+ -not), × conceive, count, diseased, do + eat, + enjoy, + fear, following, have, hold, keep, + lack, + go to law, lie, + must needs, + of necessity, + need, next, + recover, + reign, + rest, + return, × sick, take for, + tremble, + uncircumcised, use.]

d. not [Strong: 3756 ou, oo; a primary word; the absolute negative (compare G3361) adverb; no or not:—+ long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, + nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but.]

e. [ye] kill [Strong: 5407 phoneúō, fon-yoo'-o; from G5406; to be a murderer (of):—kill, do murder, slay.]

f. and [Strong: 2532 kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

g. desire to have [Strong: 2206 zēlóō, dzay-lo'-o; from G2205; to have warmth of feeling for or against:—affect, covet (earnestly), (have) desire, (move with) envy, be jealous over, (be) zealous(-ly affect).]

h. and [Strong: 2532 kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

i. can [Strong: 1410 dýnamai, doo'-nam-ahee; of uncertain affinity; to be able or possible:—be able, can (do, + -not), could, may, might, be possible, be of power.]

j. not [Strong: 3756 ou, oo; a primary word; the absolute negative (compare G3361) adverb; no or not:—+ long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, + nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but.]

k. obtain [Strong: 2013 epitynchánō, ep-ee-toong-khan'-o; from G1909 and G5177; to chance upon, i.e. (by implication) to attain:—obtain.]

l. [ye] fight [Strong: 3164 máchomai, makh'-om-ahee; middle voice of an apparently primary verb; to war, i.e. (figuratively) to quarrel, dispute:—fight, strive.]

m. and [Strong: 2532 kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

n. war [Strong: 4170 poleméō, pol-em-eh'-o; from G4171; to be (engaged) in warfare, i.e. to battle (literally or figuratively):—fight, (make) war.]

o. yet [Strong: 1161 dé, deh; a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and, etc.:—also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).]

p. [ye] have [Strong: 2192 échō, ekh'-o; a primary verb; to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remote; such as possession; ability, contiuity, relation, or condition):—be (able, × hold, possessed with), accompany, + begin to amend, can(+ -not), × conceive, count, diseased, do + eat, + enjoy, + fear, following, have, hold, keep, + lack, + go to law, lie, + must needs, + of necessity, + need, next, + recover, + reign, + rest, + return, × sick, take for, + tremble, + uncircumcised, use.]

q. not [Strong: 3756 ou, oo; a primary word; the absolute negative (compare G3361) adverb; no or not:—+ long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, + nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but.]

r. because [Strong: 1223 diá, dee-ah'; a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional):—after, always, among, at, to avoid, because of (that), briefly, by, for (cause) … fore, from, in, by occasion of, of, by reason of, for sake, that, thereby, therefore, × though, through(-out), to, wherefore, with (-in).]

s. [Strong: 3588. [to] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [to] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, Hē, hé  hē, hai, tas.]

t. ye [Strong: humas, hoo-mas'; accusative case of G5210; you (as the objective of a verb or preposition):—ye, you (+ -ward), your (+ own).]

u. ask [Strong: aitéō, ahee-teh'-o; of uncertain derivation; to ask (in genitive case):—ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require.]

v. not [Strong: 3361 mḗ, may; a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas G3756 expresses an absolute denial); (adverb) not, (conjunction) lest; also (as an interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas G3756 expects an affirmative one)) whether:—any but (that), × forbear, + God forbid, + lack, lest, neither, never, no (X wise in), none, nor, (can-)not, nothing, that not, un(-taken), without. Often used in compounds in substantially the same relations.]