James 1:17 Parallel Translations

Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.(GOD'S WORD®)

KJV:

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.

ASV:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.

BBE:

Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.

DBY:

Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning.

ERV:

Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.

WEY:

Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest suggestion of change.

WBS:

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.

WEB:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.

YLT:

every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning;

James 1:17 Cross References

XREF:

Psalm 136:7 To Him who made the great lights, For His lovingkindness is everlasting:

Malachi 3:6 "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

James 3:15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. (NASB ©1995)

Commentaries and Concordances

GSB:

1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the {o} Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither {p}shadow of turning.
(o) From him who is the fountain and author of all goodness.
(p) He goes on in the metaphor: for the sun by his many and various kinds of turning, makes hours, days, months, years, light and darkness.

PNT:

1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. All gifts that truly bless us are God's gifts.
And cometh down from the Father of lights. God, the Creator of every light of the material world, and the source of all moral light.
With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. God is unchangeable, always the same, nor does he cast a shadow of turning like the sun. The allusion is to the constantly changing shadows of objects in the sunlight caused by the movement, not of the sun, but of the earth.

WES:

1:17 No evil, but every good gift - Whatever tends to holiness. And every perfect gift - Whatever tends to glory. Descendeth from the Father of lights - The appellation of Father is here used with peculiar propriety. It follows, he begat us. He is the Father of all light, material or spiritual, in the kingdom of grace and of glory. With whom is no variableness - No change in his understanding. Or shadow of turning - in his will. He infallibly discerns all good and evil; and invariably loves one, and hates the other. There is, in both the Greek words, a metaphor taken from the stars, particularly proper where the Father of lights is mentioned. Both are applicable to any celestial body, which has a daily vicissitude of day and night, and sometimes longer days, sometimes longer nights. In God is nothing of this kind. He is mere light. If there Is any such vicissitude, it is in ourselves, not in him.

MHC:

1:12-18 It is not every man who suffers, that is blessed; but he who with patience and constancy goes through all difficulties in the way of duty. Afflictions cannot make us miserable, if it be not our own fault. The tried Christian shall be a crowned one. The crown of life is promised to all who have the love of God reigning in their hearts. Every soul that truly loves God, shall have its trials in this world fully recompensed in that world above, where love is made perfect. The commands of God, and the dealings of his providence, try men's hearts, and show the dispositions which prevail in them. But nothing sinful in the heart or conduct can be ascribed to God. He is not the author of the dross, though his fiery trial exposes it. Those who lay the blame of sin, either upon their constitution, or upon their condition in the world, or pretend they cannot keep from sinning, wrong God as if he were the author of sin. Afflictions, as sent by God, are designed to draw out our graces, but not our corruptions. The origin of evil and temptation is in our own hearts. Stop the beginnings of sin, or all the evils that follow must be wholly charged upon us. God has no pleasure in the death of men, as he has no hand in their sin; but both sin and misery are owing to themselves. As the sun is the same in nature and influences, though the earth and clouds, often coming between, make it seem to us to vary, so God is unchangeable, and our changes and shadows are not from any changes or alterations in him. What the sun is in nature, God is in grace, providence, and glory; and infinitely more. As every good gift is from God, so particularly our being born again, and all its holy, happy consequences come from him. A true Christian becomes as different a person from what he was before the renewing influences of Divine grace, as if he were formed over again. We should devote all our faculties to God's service, that we may be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.

CONC:

TRUE Cast Change Due Endowment Gift Giving Heaven Heavenly Lights Perfect Shade Shadow Shadows Shifting Slightest Source Suggestion Turning Variableness Variation

Boon Cast Change Due Gift Good Heaven Heavenly Lights Perfect Shade Shadow Shadows Shifting Source Suggestion True. Turning

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

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