Verse Lens · Context pointer
James 1:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16Do not err, my beloved brethren.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
This verse interrupts the argument with an affectionate warning not to be deceived about God and desire.
Read It With
- James 1:12–18
Read James 1:16 with 1:12–18. This verse interrupts the argument with an affectionate warning not to be deceived about God and desire. The complete unit establishes this movement: The person who endures testing is blessed with promised life, but no one should blame God for temptation: desire entices and gives birth to sin and death, whereas the unchanging Father gives good gifts and brings a firstfruits people to birth through the word of truth.
Read James 1:12–18 together
Why these verses belong together: Endurance and life lead into a contrast between desire producing sin and death and God producing firstfruits through truth.
Verse 12. 12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Verse 13. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Verse 14. 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Verse 15. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Verse 16. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Verse 17. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Verse 18. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read James 1:12–18 — Endurance Receives Life; Desire, Not God, Gives Birth to SinSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: James 1:12–18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, and base text for original-language discussion.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Jas.txt, 1:12–18
Open the James Greek text file ↗