lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life

1 John 2:16
Parallel Verses
New International Version
For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes
not from the Father but from the world.
New Living Translation
For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and
pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this
world.
English Standard Version
For all that is in the worldthe desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life
is not from the Father but is from the world.
New American Standard Bible
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of
life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
King James Bible
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
For everything that belongs to the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
in one's lifestyle--is not from the Father, but is from the world.
International Standard Version
For everything that is in the worldthe desire for fleshly gratification, the desire for possessions,
and worldly arroganceis not from the Father but is from the world.
NET Bible
because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the
arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For everything that is in the world: the desire of the body and the lust of the eyes and the pride of
temporal life, these are not from The Father but these are from the world.
GOD'S WORD Translation
Not everything that the world offers-physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestylescomes from the Father. It comes from the world, and
Jubilee Bible 2000
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not

of the Father, but is of the world.

King James 2000 Bible
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world.
American King James Version
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world.
American Standard Version
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes,
and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Darby Bible Translation
because all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
English Revised Version
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Webster's Bible Translation
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not from the Father, but is from the world.
Weymouth New Testament
For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show
and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world.
World English Bible
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn't the
Father's, but is the world's.
Young's Literal Translation
because all that is in the world -- the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the
ostentation of the life -- is not of the Father, but of the world,
Parallel Commentaries
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:15-17 The things of the world may be desired and possessed for the uses and purposes which
God intended, and they are to be used by his grace, and to his glory; but believers must not seek

or value them for those purposes to which sin abuses them. The world draws the heart from God;
and the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays. The things of the
world are classed according to the three ruling inclinations of depraved nature. 1. The lust of the
flesh, of the body: wrong desires of the heart, the appetite of indulging all things that excite and
inflame sensual pleasures. 2. The lust of the eyes: the eyes are delighted with riches and rich
possessions; this is the lust of covetousness. 3. The pride of life: a vain man craves the grandeur
and pomp of a vain-glorious life; this includes thirst after honour and applause. The things of the
world quickly fade and die away; desire itself will ere long fail and cease, but holy affection is
not like the lust that passes away. The love of God shall never fail. Many vain efforts have been
made to evade the force of this passage by limitations, distinctions, or exceptions. Many have
tried to show how far we may be carnally-minded, and love the world; but the plain meaning of
these verses cannot easily be mistaken. Unless this victory over the world is begun in the heart, a
man has no root in himself, but will fall away, or at most remain an unfruitful professor. Yet these
vanities are so alluring to the corruption in our hearts, that without constant watching and prayer,
we cannot escape the world, or obtain victory over the god and prince of it.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 16. - He still further emphasizes the command by explaining the negative statement just
made. Everything that is in the world has as its source, not the Father, but the world. This shows
clearly that cannot mean material objects capable of being desired; these have
their origin in God who created them (John 1:3). To assert otherwise is rank Gnosticism or
Manicheism. But God did not create the evil dispositions and aims of men; these have their
source in the sinful wills of his creatures, and ultimately in "the ruler of this world" (John 8:44).
The three genitives which follow are subjective, not objective. The lust of the flesh is not merely
the lust after the flesh, but all lust that has its seat in the flesh (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 2:3).
The lust of the eyes is that lust that has its origin in sight (Augenlust) - curiosity, covetousness,
etc. (cf. "the lusts of their hearts," "the lusts of your body," Romans 1:24; Romans 6:12). In the
world of St. John's day the impure and brutal spectacles of the theatre and the arena would
supply abundant illustrations of these . The vain-glory of life, or arrogancy of living, is
ostentation exhibited in the manner of living; the empty pride and pretentiousness of fashion and
display. It includes the desire to gain credit which does not belong to us, and outshine our
neighbours. In Greek philosophy is higher than : is the life peculiar to man; is
the vital principle which he shares with brutes and vegetables, In the New Testament is
higher than is the life peculiar to man; is the vital principle which he shares with God.
Contrast here; 1 John 3:17; Luke 8:14, 43; Luke 15:12, 30, etc., with in 1 John 1:1, 2; 1
John 3:14; 1 John 5:11, 12, 16; John 1:4; John 3:36; John 5:24, 26, etc. occurs only ten
times in the New Testament (in 1 Peter 4:3 it is a false reading), more than a hundred and
twenty times. Each of the three forms of evil here cited by St. John as typos of
are dangerous at different periods of a man's life; each also has been a special danger at different
periods of the world's history.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For all that is in the world,.... This is the sum of the evil things in the world; or these following
are the objects of sin in the world, or about which wicked men are conversant; even such as are

carnal or grateful to the flesh, visible to the eye, and belong to this vain life, or serve to fill with
pride and vanity; or these are the main things, which men that love the world most highly value
and esteem:
the lust of the flesh; by which is meant, not lust in general, or concupiscence, the corruption of
nature, which is the fountain of all sin, or indwelling sin, the flesh, or that corrupt principle
which lusts against the Spirit; nor the various lusts of the flesh, fleshly lusts, which war against
the soul, and which are many, and are also called worldly lusts; but some particular one, "a lust
of the body", as the Syriac version reads; either the lust of uncleanness, which includes all
unchaste desires, thoughts, words, and actions, fornication, adultery, rape, incest, sodomy, and all
unnatural lusts; and which make up a considerable part of the all that is in the world: or else
intemperance in eating and drinking, gluttony and drunkenness, excess of wine, surfeitings,
rioting, and revellings, and all the sensual pleasures of life, by which the carnal mind, and the
lusts of it, are gratified; whereby the soul is destroyed, the body is dishonoured, and a wound,
dishonour, and reproach brought on the character, not to be removed; for which reasons the
world, and the things of it, are not to be loved: the next follows,
the lust of the eyes: after unlawful objects, and may design unchaste and lascivious looks, eyes
full of adultery, and whereby adultery is committed; see Matthew 5:28; but then this falls in with
the other, unless that be confined to intemperance; rather then this may intend a sinful curiosity
of seeing vain sights, and shows, with which the eye of man is never satisfied, Ecclesiastes 1:8;
and against which the psalmist prays, Psalm 119:37, or rather the sin of covetousness is here
designed, the objects of which are visible things, as gold, silver, houses, lands, and possessions,
with which riches the eyes of men are never satisfied, and which sin is drawn forth and cherished
by the eyes; and indeed a covetous man has little more satisfaction than the beholding his
substance with his eyes, and in which he takes much sinful pleasure; see Ecclesiastes 4:8; and
what a poor vain empty thing is this! therefore, love not the world, since this is a principal thing
in it: as is also
the pride of life; by which seems to be meant, ambition of honour, of chief places and high titles,
as in the Scribes and Pharisees, Matthew 23:6, or of grand living, for the word signifies not so
much life as living; living in a sumptuous, gay, luxurious, and pompous manner, in rich diet,
costly apparel, having fine seats, palaces, and stately buildings, and numerous attendance; all
which is but vanity and vexation of spirit; see Ecclesiastes 2:1. The Syriac and Arabic versions
read, "the pride of the age"; and every age has some peculiar things in which the pride of it
appears. Now neither of these
is of the Father; of God the Father, as the Ethiopic version reads; the things which are desired
and lusted after are of God, but not the lust itself; God is not the author of sin, nor is it agreeable
to his will:
but is of the world; of the men of it, and agreeable to their carnal minds; and is a reason why
things of the world are not to be loved by the saints, who are not of it, but chosen and called out
of it; and besides, all these things are mean, base, vile, and contemptible, and unworthy of their
love and affection.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. all that is in the worldcan be classed under one or other of the three; the world contains
these and no more.
lust of the fleshthat is, the lust which has its seat and source in our lower animal nature. Satan
tried this temptation the first on Christ: Lu 4:3, "Command this stone that it be made bread."
Youth is especially liable to fleshly lusts.
lust of the eyesthe avenue through which outward things of the world, riches, pomp, and
beauty, inflame us. Satan tried this temptation on Christ when he showed Him the kingdoms of
the world in a moment. By the lust of the eyes David (2Sa 11:2) and Achan fell (Jos 7:21).
Compare David's prayer, Ps 119:37; Job's resolve, Ps 31:1; Mt 5:28. The only good of worldly
riches to the possessor is the beholding them with the eyes. Compare Lu 14:18, "I must go and
SEE it."
pride of lifeliterally, "arrogant assumption": vainglorious display. Pride was Satan's sin
whereby he fell and forms the link between the two foes of man, the world (answering to "the
lust of the eyes") and the devil (as "the lust of the flesh" is the third foe). Satan tried this
temptation on Christ in setting Him on the temple pinnacle that, in spiritual pride and
presumption, on the ground of His Father's care, He should cast Himself down. The same three
foes appear in the three classes of soil on which the divine seed falls: the wayside hearers, the
devil; the thorns, the world; the rocky undersoil, the flesh (Mt 13:18-23; Mr 4:3-8). The world's
awful antitrinity, the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," similarly is
presented in Satan's temptation of Eve: "When she saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise," Ge 3:6 (one manifestation of "the pride of
life," the desire to know above what God has revealed, Col 2:8, the pride of unsanctified
knowledge).
ofdoes not spring from "the Father" (used in relation to the preceding "little children," 1Jo
2:12, or "little sons"). He who is born of God alone turns to God; he who is of the world turns to
the world; the sources of love to God and love to the world, are irreconcilably distinct.
1 John 2:16 Additional Commentaries
Context
Do Not Love the World
15Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17The world is
passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
Cross References
Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and
also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,
who was with her, and he ate it.

Proverbs 27:20
Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.
Romans 13:14
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the
desires of the flesh.
Ephesians 2:3
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its
desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
James 4:16
As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.
1 Peter 2:11
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war
against your soul.
Treasury of Scripture
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world.
the lust of the flesh.
Numbers 11:4,34 And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the
Psalm 78:18,30 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust
Proverbs 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in your heart; neither let her take you
Matthew 5:28 But I say to you, That whoever looks on a woman to lust after her
Romans 13:14 But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust
Galatians 5:17,24 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the

1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain
1 Peter 4:2,3 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to
1 Peter 4:2,3 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to
2 Peter 2:10,18 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,
Jude 1:16-18 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts;
and the lust.
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
Genesis 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair;
Joshua 7:21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two
Job 31:1 I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think on a maid?
Psalm 119:36,37 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to covetousness
Ecclesiastes 5:10,11 He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and
Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed to him
and the pride.
Esther 1:3-7 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast to all his princes
Psalm 73:6 Therefore pride compasses them about as a chain; violence covers
Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have
Revelation 18:11-17 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for
is not.
James 3:15 This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Jump to Previous
Boastful Boasting Cravings Earthly Eyes Father's Flesh Glory Lust Nature Pride Show Sinful
Vain World World's

Jump to Next
Boastful Boasting Cravings Earthly Eyes Father's Flesh Glory Lust Nature Pride Show Sinful
Vain World World's
Links
1 John 2:16 NIV
1 John 2:16 NLT
1 John 2:16 ESV
1 John 2:16 NASB
1 John 2:16 KJV
1 John 2:16 Bible Apps
1 John 2:16 Bible Suite
1 John 2:16 Biblia Paralela
1 John 2:16 Chinese Bible
1 John 2:16 French Bible
1 John 2:16 German Bible
Alphabetical: all and boastful boasting but comes cravings does everything eyes Father flesh For
from has he his in is life lust man not of pride sinful that the what world
NT Letters: 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world (1J iJ 1Jn i jn 1 jo) Christian Bible Study
Resources, Dictionary, Concordance and Search Tools
Bible Hub