James 1:18

He wanted us to be in his own family, so he sent his true word to us. And when we believed that word it was like we were born all over again. That’s how he made us his really special people.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

In Context

17Everything that is really good comes from God in heaven. He made the sun, and the moon, and the stars, up there in the sky that give us light. You know, they move around, and they make shadows that move and change around. But God does not change, like those things. He never changes at all, not even a little bit. He always gives us good things.

19Listen, my Christian friends, you have to be ready to listen to other people, and you have to stop and think before you say anything yourself. Stop and think before you get angry.

Read all of James 1

Cross References

John 1:13Yes, those people are in God’s family, but they were not born into it the way kids are born into human families. And they did not come from what a human mother or father wanted. God himself gave them new life and made them his kids.

Romans 4:17God promised that a long time ago, and it is in his book. God told Abraham, “I will make you the father of lots of nations.” Abraham believed that God can do that. You know, God can do anything. He can even make dead people alive again, and he can make new things out of nothing.

Ephesians 1:12At first he picked the Jewish people. They were the first to trust Jesus Christ, and to wait for him to save them. God wanted the Jews to be the first people to praise him, and to say that he is really great.

Colossians 1:20God used him to get everything to come back to himself. God’s son bled and died on the cross, so that now everything can stop being God’s enemies, and become God’s friends again. Some of those things are in heaven, and some of them are on the earth, but Jesus died on the cross, so that they can all come back to God.

Matthew Henry on James 1:14-19

Procedure and Results of Sin. ( a. d. 61.) 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: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study James 1:18