YAC 1:4 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not necessarily natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for Bible-translators and others doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still early looks into the drafted texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT But let the endurance have a perfect work, so that you may be perfect and whole, lacking in nothing.

UST Endure hardships to their very end, so that you may follow the Messiah in every way. Then you will not fail to do well.

BSB & MSB Allow perseverance to finish [its] work, so that you may be mature and complete, [not] lacking [anything].

BLB And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

AICNT And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

OEB And let endurance do its work perfectly, so that you may be altogether perfect, and in no respect lacking.

WEBBE & WMBB Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

MSG ^(2-4)Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

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

LSV and let the endurance have a perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

FBV Let your endurance become as strong as possible, so that you will be completely mature, without any shortcomings.

TCNT And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

T4T Keep on enduring difficulties bravely/patiently by trusting God more and more firmly [PRS], in order that you may become all that he intends you to be [DOU] (OR, spiritually mature and complete), not lacking ◄any good quality/anything you need to conduct your lives as God wants you to►.

LEB And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

BBE But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

Moff only, let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.

Wymth Only let endurance have perfect results so that you may become perfect and complete, deficient in nothing.

ASV And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

DRA And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.

YLT and let the endurance have a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire — in nothing lacking;

Drby But let endurance have [its] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

RV And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
(And let patience have its perfect work, that ye/you_all may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.)

SLT And let patience have a perfect work, that ye be perfect and entire, being left behind in nothing.

Wbstr But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

KJB-1769 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
(But let patience have her perfect work, that ye/you_all may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.)

KJB-1611 But let patience haue her perfect worke, that ye may be perfect, and entier, wanting nothing.
(But let patience have her perfect work, that ye/you_all may be perfect, and entier, wanting nothing.)

Bshps And let patience haue her perfect worke, that ye may be perfect & sounde, lackyng nothyng.
(And let patience have her perfect work, that ye/you_all may be perfect and sound, lacking nothing.)

Gnva And let patience haue her perfect worke, that ye may be perfect and entier, lacking nothing.
(And let patience have her perfect work, that ye/you_all may be perfect and entier, lacking nothing.)

Cvdl and let pacience haue her parfect worke, yt ye maye be parfecte aud sounde, lakinge nothinge.
(and let patience have her parfect work, it ye/you_all may be parfecte and sound, lakinge nothing.)

TNT have her parfect worke that ye maye be parfecte and sounde lackinge nothinge.
(have her parfect work that ye/you_all may be parfecte and sound lacking nothing.)

Wycl and pacience hath a perfit werk, that ye be perfit and hole, and faile in no thing.
(and patience hath/has a perfect work, that ye/you_all be perfect and hole, and fail in no thing.)

Luth Die Geduld aber soll festbleiben bis ans Ende, auf daß ihr seid vollkommen und ganz und keinen Mangel habet.
(The patience but should stay_firm until at/to end(n), on/in/to that you(pl)/their/her are completely/perfectly and all and none shortage have.)

ClVg Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
(Patientia however work/need perfect has: as thirsts perfect and integri in/into/on with_no_one deficientes.)

UGNT ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω, ἵνα ἦτε τέλειοι καὶ ὁλόκληροι, ἐν μηδενὶ λειπόμενοι.
(haʸ de hupomonaʸ ergon teleion eⱪetō, hina aʸte teleioi kai holoklaʸroi, en maʸdeni leipomenoi.)

SBL-GNT ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω, ἵνα ἦτε τέλειοι καὶ ὁλόκληροι, ἐν μηδενὶ λειπόμενοι.
(haʸ de hupomonaʸ ergon teleion eⱪetō, hina aʸte teleioi kai holoklaʸroi, en maʸdeni leipomenoi.)

RP-GNT ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω, ἵνα ἦτε τέλειοι καὶ ὁλόκληροι, ἐν μηδενὶ λειπόμενοι.
(haʸ de hupomonaʸ ergon teleion eⱪetō, hina aʸte teleioi kai holoklaʸroi, en maʸdeni leipomenoi.)

TC-GNT ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω, ἵνα ἦτε τέλειοι καὶ ὁλόκληροι, ἐν μηδενὶ λειπόμενοι.
(haʸ de hupomonaʸ ergon teleion eⱪetō, hina aʸte teleioi kai holoklaʸroi, en maʸdeni leipomenoi.)

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:2–11: James encouraged believers to continue to trust God during times of testing

The theme of this section is that it is important for Christians to continue to trust God when going through various kinds of trials or difficulties. These trials are a test of their faith (1:2–4). They need God’s wisdom in order to remain faithful to him, and so they should pray for wisdom (1:5). When they come to God in prayer, they should have an attitude of firm trust in him (1:6–8). Both poverty and wealth test a Christian. They should trust God whether rich or poor and learn to think about poverty and wealth as God does (1:9–11).

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Have faith and wisdom

When you have trials/tests, you must trust God

Be joyful when your faith is tested

Paragraph 1:2–4

James taught that Christians should rejoice when persons or situations test their faith. When such tests occur, Christians learn how to persevere, and they become more mature in their faith.

1:4a

Allow perseverance to finish its work,

Perseverance must grow
Learn^(plur) to endure everything.
Become^(plur) the kind of people who are patient in/during every trial

Allow perseverance to finish its work: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as Allow perseverance to finish its work is a figure of speech called personification. Here, perseverance is told to finish its work as if it were a person. Perseverance finishes its work in the sense that our ability to persevere becomes fully developed in our lives. We develop into the kind of people who habitually persevere/endure our trials. We must develop this characteristic so that we will be mature and complete (1:4b).

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

let endurance have its perfect effect (NET)

when your endurance is fully developed (NLT)

In some languages, such personification is not possible. Some other ways to translate this phrase without personification are:

you must learn to endure everything (CEV)

Learn to be patient during each trial/difficulty

Continue to believe/trust in God/Jesus during your trials

Persevere more and more until it becomes a habit

1:4b

so that you may be mature and complete,

in order that you^(plur) may become mature and fully developed,
Then you^(plur) will be spiritually mature and have the complete character that God wants
so that you will be completely mature (CEV)

so that you may be mature and complete: The Greek word that the BSB translates as so that introduces a purpose clause. You should persevere (1:4a) so that you will become a mature, complete believer (1:4b).

Another way to connect 1:4a and 1:4b is:

Then you will be mature and complete (GW)

mature: The Greek word that the BSB translates as mature means to be “mature,” “complete,” or “fully-developed.” Here it refers to a person who is spiritually mature and whose character has completed its full development.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

strong in character (NLT96)

fully developed (NJB)

men of mature character (JBP)

complete: The Greek word that the BSB translates as complete has a similar meaning to the word translated mature (in the note above). This second word refers to a person whose character is entirely what God intended it to be. He is not someone who is mature in some ways but not mature in others.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

whole in all aspects/parts of his character

your character will be what God desires

In some languages, it is more natural to combine the two ideas of “mature” and “complete.” For example:

completely mature (CEV)

1:4c

not lacking anything.

and not lack any good quality.
and nothing good will be absent.

not lacking anything: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as not lacking anything also means “not needing anything.” This means that no good quality is absent from the person’s character. It does not refer to lacking money or material possessions.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

not deficient in any way (NJB)

you will not lack anything in your character

and will demonstrate/show only good qualities/traits

This phrase expresses the same idea as “complete” in 1:4b. James often restated the same idea in positive and negative form for emphasis. For another example see 1:6b, “believe and not doubt.”

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω

¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἡ Δέ ὑπομονή ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω ἵνα ἦτε τελειοῖ καί ὁλόκληροι ἐν μηδενί λειπόμενοι)

The expression let endurance have a perfect work means “let endurance complete its work.” James is speaking as if the quality of endurance were actively developing the character of believers. Alternate translation: [But make sure that you completely develop the ability not to give up]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

τέλειοι καὶ ὁλόκληροι

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἡ Δέ ὑπομονή ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω ἵνα ἦτε τελειοῖ καί ὁλόκληροι ἐν μηδενί λειπόμενοι)

The words perfect and whole mean similar things. James is using them together for emphasis. In this context, the word perfect does not mean without any flaws. Rather, it refers to something that has reached its goal. The word whole describes something that is not missing any of its parts or pieces. Together, the words describe mature Christian character. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this idea by translating this pair of words with a single expression. Alternate translation: [completely mature]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

ἐν μηδενὶ λειπόμενοι

in (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἡ Δέ ὑπομονή ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω ἵνα ἦτε τελειοῖ καί ὁλόκληροι ἐν μηδενί λειπόμενοι)

This is a double negative, consisting of the negative verb lacking and the negative object nothing. If it would be clearer in your language, you could use a positive expression to translate this. Alternate translation: [having all that you need] or [being all that you need to be]

Parallel YAC 1:4

Section 1:2–11: James encouraged believers to continue to trust God during times of testing

Paragraph 1:2–4

1:4a

1:4b

1:4c