James 4:8-17

New International Reader's Version

⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can’t make up your minds. ⁹ Be full of sorrow. Cry and weep. Change your laughter to mourning. Change your joy to sadness. ¹⁰ Be humble in front of the Lord. And he will lift you up.

¹¹ My brothers and sisters, don’t speak against one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister speaks against the law. And anyone who judges another believer judges the law. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it. Instead, you are acting as if you were its judge. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. He is the God who is able to save life or destroy it. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Bragging About Tomorrow

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city. We will spend a year there. We will buy and sell and make money.” ¹⁴ You don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while. Then it disappears. ¹⁵ Instead, you should say, “If it pleases the Lord, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you brag. You brag about the evil plans your pride produces. This kind of bragging is evil. ¹⁷ So suppose someone knows the good deeds they should do. But suppose they don’t do them. By not doing these good deeds, they sin.