⁵³ Let no sinner say that he has not sinned; for God^[a] will burn coals of fire on the head of him who says, “I have not sinned before God and his glory.” ⁵⁴ Behold, the Lord knows all the works of men, their imaginations and their thoughts and their hearts. ⁵⁵ He said, “Let the earth be made,” and it was made; “Let the heaven be made,” and it was made. ⁵⁶ At his word the stars were fixed, and he knows the number of the stars. ⁵⁷ It is he who searches the deep and its treasures, who has measured the sea and its contents; ⁵⁸ who has enclosed the sea in the midst of the waters, and by his word has suspended the earth over the water; ⁵⁹ who has spread out the heaven like an arch, and founded it upon the waters; ⁶⁰ who has put springs of water in the desert, and pools on the tops of the mountains, to send rivers from the heights to water the earth; ⁶¹ who formed man, and put a heart in the midst of his body, and gave him breath and life and understanding ⁶² and the spirit of Almighty God; who made all things and searches out hidden things in hidden places. ⁶³ Surely he knows your imaginations and what you think in your hearts! Woe to those who sin and want to hide their sins! ⁶⁴ Because the Lord will strictly examine all their works, and will make a public spectacle of all of you. ⁶⁵ And when your sins come out before men, you shall be put to shame; and your own iniquities shall stand as your accusers in that day. ⁶⁶ What will you do? Or how will you hide your sins before God and his angels? ⁶⁷ Behold, God is the judge, fear him! Cease from your sins, and forget your iniquities, never to commit them again; so God will lead you forth and deliver you from all tribulation.

Humility

Friendship with the World

4 What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? ² You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet^[a] and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴ Unfaithful creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is in vain that the scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But he gives more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. ⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

Warning against Judging Another

¹¹ Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil against a brother or 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 one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor?

Boasting about Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Some Sayings of Jesus

17 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin^[a] are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.^{[b] 3} Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; ⁴ and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷ “Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? ⁸ Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? ⁹ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”