James 4 - 1 Peter 1

English Standard Version

Warning Against Worldliness

4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions^[a] are ^(A)at war within you?^{[b] 2} You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^(B)wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ^4 (C)You adulterous people!^[c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(D)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^(E)that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But ^(F)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^(G)“God opposes the proud but ^(H)gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^(I)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (J)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^(K)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^(L)purify your hearts, ^(M)you double-minded. ^9 (N)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (O)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

^11 (P)Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.^[d] The one who speaks against a brother or ^(Q)judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is only ^(R)one lawgiver and ^(S)judge, he who is able to save and ^(T)to destroy. But ^(U)who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(V)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^(W)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(X)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^(Y)All such boasting is evil. ^17 (Z)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(AA)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(AB)miseries that are coming upon you. ^2 (AC)Your riches have rotted and ^(AD)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(AE)You have laid up treasure ^(AF)in the last days. ⁴ Behold, ^(AG)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(AH)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(AI)the Lord of hosts. ^5 (AJ)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(AK)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(AL)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^(AM)murdered ^(AN)the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[e] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(AO)the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. ^(AP)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(AQ)is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(AR)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(AS)the Judge is standing ^(AT)at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^(AU)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^(AV)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^(AW)the purpose of the Lord, how ^(AX)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brothers, ^(AY)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ^(AZ)sing praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^(BA)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ^(BB)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, ^(BC)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ^(BD)that you may be healed. ^(BE)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.^{[f] 17} Elijah was a man ^(BF)with a nature like ours, and ^(BG)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ^(BH)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ^18 (BI)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

¹⁹ My brothers, ^(BJ)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ^(BK)brings him back, ²⁰ let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ^(BL)will save his soul from death and ^(BM)will cover a multitude of sins.

Greeting

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of ^(BN)the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² according to ^(BO)the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(BP)in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and ^(BQ)for sprinkling with his blood:

May ^(BR)grace and ^(BS)peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

^3 (BT)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ^(BU)According to his great mercy, ^(BV)he has caused us to be born again to a living hope ^(BW)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to ^(BX)an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and ^(BY)unfading, ^(BZ)kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God's power are being guarded ^(CA)through faith for a salvation ^(CB)ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by ^(CC)various trials, ⁷ so that ^(CD)the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes ^(CE)though it is tested by ^(CF)fire—may be found to result in ^(CG)praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ^8 (CH)Though you have not seen him, you love him. ^(CI)Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining ^(CJ)the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, ^(CK)the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹ inquiring ^(CL)what person or time^{[g] (CM)}the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating ^(CN)when he predicted ^(CO)the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ^12 (CP)It was revealed to them that ^(CQ)they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you ^(CR)by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, ^(CS)things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

¹³ Therefore, ^(CT)preparing your minds for action,^[h] and ^(CU)being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, ^(CV)do not be conformed to the passions ^(CW)of your former ignorance, ¹⁵ but ^(CX)as he who called you is holy, you also be holy ^(CY)in all your conduct, ¹⁶ since it is written, ^(CZ)“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷ And if you ^(DA)call on him as Father who ^(DB)judges ^(DC)impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves ^(DD)with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you ^(DE)were ransomed from ^(DF)the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but ^(DG)with the precious blood of Christ, like that of ^(DH)a lamb ^(DI)without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but ^(DJ)was made manifest ^(DK)in the last times for the sake of you ^21 (DL)who through him are believers in God, ^(DM)who raised him from the dead and ^(DN)gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for ^(DO)a sincere brotherly love, ^(DP)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ^23 (DQ)since you have been born again, ^(DR)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through ^(DS)the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴ for

And this word ^(DV)is the good news that was preached to you.