King James Bible
"Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
James uses childbirth imagery to describe how evil desire becomes pregnant with sin when the will yields to temptation. The conception metaphor emphasizes that sin begins internally, in the heart and mind, before manifesting outwardly. The birth metaphor continues as conceived desire delivers actual sin—wrong thoughts mature into wrong actions. This middle stage shows sin as the natural offspring of unchecked desire, highlighting the progression from temptation to transgression. Sin reaches full maturity or completion, suggesting a process where sinful acts compound and reach their ultimate consequence. The Greek term implies sin running its full course, like a disease reaching its terminal stage. The final offspring in this genealogy of evil is death—both spiritual separation from God and physical mortality. James traces the complete trajectory from desire to destruction, warning that what begins as mere temptation ends in ultimate ruin.