Tool Beta
Is It Actually in the Bible?
Phrases people quote as Scripture. The real verse, or the honest answer that there is not one.
"Lay apart… all superfluity of naughtiness" (James 1:21) sounds like James is warning against being a bit cheeky or mischievous.
'Naughtiness' in James 1:21 means serious wickedness or malice, a far heavier word than modern 'naughty.'
James 1:21, in every translation this tool compares.
James urges believers to "lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word." "Naughtiness" here is built from the same root as "naught" (worthless, nothing) and functions as a strong term for moral corruption or malice: essentially "wickedness that overflows," paired with "filthiness" in the same breath.
Modern "naughty" has drifted a long way toward describing a child sneaking an extra cookie, or being playfully cheeky. James is not warning against minor mischief: he's calling for believers to strip off genuine moral rot, a far more serious charge than the word now carries.
