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James 4:8

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

James 4:8, King James Version (KJV)

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

World English Bible (WEB)

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James 4 (KJV)

  1. 1From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
  2. 2Ye 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.
  3. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
  4. 4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
  5. 5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
  6. 6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
  7. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
  8. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
  9. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
  10. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
  11. 11Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
  12. 12There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
  13. 13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
  14. 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
  15. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
  16. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
  17. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Related verses

Passages that readers often connect with James 4:8, in the King James Version.

  • Psalm 145:18

    The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

  • Hebrews 10:22

    Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

  • Malachi 3:7

    Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

  • Zechariah 1:3

    Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

  • Isaiah 55:6–7

    Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: …

  • 2 Chronicles 15:2

    And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

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1769 standardized text (eBible.org eng-kjv). Public domain outside the United Kingdom. Text courtesy of the Crosswire Bible Society and eBible.org. World English Bible Protestant Edition (eBible engwebp, 2026-09-15 snapshot). Public domain. World English Bible is a trademark of eBible.org. Text unmodified; footnotes and formatting omitted. Related verses: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0), from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.