James 1:20

Easy-to-Read Version

Anger does not help you live the way God wants.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

King James Version (1611)
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousnesse of God.

King James Version
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

English Standard Version
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

New American Standard Bible
for a man's anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.

New Century Version
because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

Berean Standard Bible
for man's anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.

Contemporary English Version
If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things that God wants done.

Complete Jewish Bible
for a person's anger does not accomplish God's righteousness!

Darby Translation
for man's wrath does not work God's righteousness.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For the wrath of man doeth not accomplish the righteousnesse of God.

George Lamsa Translation
For the wrath of man does not bring about the righteousness of God.

Good News Translation
Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose.

Lexham English Bible
for human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

Literal Translation
For the wrath of man does not work out the righteousness of God.

Amplified Bible
for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us].

American Standard Version
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Bible in Basic English
For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.

Hebrew Names Version
for the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God.

International Standard Version
For human anger does not produce God's righteousness.

Etheridge Translation
for the wrath of man the righteousness of Aloha worketh not.

Murdock Translation
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For the wrath of man, worketh not that which is ryghteous before God.

English Revised Version
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

World English Bible
for the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Weymouth's New Testament
For a man's anger does not lead to action which God regards as righteous.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
for the wraththe of man worchith not the riytwisnesse of God.

Update Bible Version
for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.

Webster's Bible Translation
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

New English Translation
For human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness.

New King James Version
for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

New Living Translation
Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

New Life Bible
A man's anger does not allow him to be right with God.

New Revised Standard
for your anger does not produce God's righteousness.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, man's anger, worketh not, God's righteousness.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God.

Revised Standard Version
for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For the wrath of man worketh not that which is ryghteous before God.

Young's Literal Translation
for the wrath of a man the righteousness of God doth not work;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For the wrath of ma worketh not that which is righteous before God.

Mace New Testament (1729)
for he that is not dispassionate is a stranger to the practice of true virtue.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Livin' and ridin' right don't include a quick fuse or sharp tongue.

Contextual Overview

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger. ²⁰ Anger does not help you live the way God wants. ²¹ So get rid of everything evil in your lives—every kind of wrong you do. Be humble and accept God's teaching that is planted in your hearts. This teaching can save you. ²² Do what God's teaching says; don't just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. ²³ Hearing God's teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror ²⁴ and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. ²⁵ But when you look into God's perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God's blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard. ²⁶ You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. ²⁷ The worship that God wants is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help and keeping yourself free from the world's evil influence. This is the kind of worship that God accepts as pure and good.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

James 3:17, James 3:18, Numbers 20:11, Numbers 20:12, 2 Timothy 2:24, 2 Timothy 2:25

Reciprocal: Genesis 31:36 - was wroth Joshua 7:19 - My son Judges 8:2 - What 1 Samuel 20:30 - Saul's 1 Samuel 25:13 - Gird ye 2 Samuel 19:43 - the words 1 Kings 6:7 - neither hammer Psalms 37:8 - Cease Proverbs 15:18 - he Proverbs 17:19 - loveth Ecclesiastes 9:17 - General Joel 2:13 - slow Jonah 4:4 - Doest thou well to be angry Matthew 5:9 - are Mark 9:50 - have peace Luke 9:54 - wilt Philippians 2:14 - disputings Colossians 3:8 - anger Titus 1:7 - not soon Titus 3:2 - gentle Hebrews 11:25 - Choosing

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it.

Genesis 1:14
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years.

Genesis 1:22
God blessed all the living things in the sea and told them to have many babies and fill the seas. And he blessed the birds on land and told them to have many more babies.

Genesis 1:24
Then God said, "Let the earth produce many kinds of living things. Let there be many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling animals of every kind. And let all these animals produce more animals." And all these things happened.

Genesis 1:25
So God made every kind of animal. He made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling things. And God saw that this was good.

Genesis 1:30
And I am giving all the green plants to the animals. These green plants will be their food. Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, and all the little things that crawl on the earth will eat that food." And all these things happened.

Genesis 2:19
The Lord God used dust from the ground and made every animal in the fields and every bird in the air. He brought all these animals to the man, and the man gave them all a name.

Genesis 8:17
Bring every living animal out of the boat with you—all the birds, animals, and everything that crawls on the earth. These animals will make many more animals, and they will fill the earth again."

1 Kings 4:33
Solomon also knew very much about nature. He taught about many different kinds of plants—everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the little vines that grow out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, and snakes.

Psalms 148:10
Praise him, wild animals and cattle, reptiles and birds.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. This is so far from engaging persons to do that which is right and acceptable in the sight of God, that it puts them upon doing that which is evil. The Alexandrian copy reads, "with the wrath of men do not work the righteousness of God"; do not attend upon the word and ordinances of God with a wrathful spirit. Compare, with this, 1 Timothy 2:8.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God - Does not produce in the life that righteousness which God requires. Its tendency is not to incline us to keep the law, but to break it; not to induce us to embrace the truth, but the opposite. The meaning of this passage is not that our wrath will make God either more or less righteous; but that its tendency is not to produce that upright course of life, and love of truth, which God requires. A man is never sure of doing right under the influence of excited feelings; he may do that which is in the highest sense wrong, and which he will regret all his life. The particular meaning of this passage is, that wrath in the mind of man will not have any tendency to make him righteous. It is only that candid state of mind which will lead him to embrace the truth which can be hoped to have such an effect.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 20. The wrath of man — A furious zeal in matters of religion is detestable in the sight of God; he will have no sacrifice that is not consumed by fire from his own altar. The zeal that made the Papists persecute and burn the Protestants, was kindled in hell. This was the wrath of man, and did not work any righteous act for God; nor was it the means of working righteousness in others; the bad fruit of a bad tree. And do they still vindicate these cruelties? Yes: for still they maintain that no faith is to be kept with heretics, and they acknowledge the inquisition.