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Nga vijnë luftërat dhe grindjet te ju?. A nuk vijnë, nga pasionet që luftojnë ndër gjymtyrët tuaja?

Ju lakmoni dhe nuk keni, ju vrisni dhe keni smirë dhe nuk fitoni gjë; ju ziheni dhe luftoni, por nuk keni, sepse nuk kërkoni.

Ju kërkoni dhe nuk merrni, sepse kërkoni keqas që të shpenzoni për kënaqësitë tuaja.

O shkelës dhe shkelëse të kurorës, a nuk e dini se miqësia me botën është armiqësi me Perëndinë? Ai, pra, që don të jetë mik i botës bëhet armik i Perëndisë.

Apo pandehni se Shkrimi thotë kot: “Fryma që rri në ne a lakmon deri në smirë”?

Por ai jep hir edhe më të madh; prandaj thotë: “Perëndia u kundërvihet mendjemëdhenjve dhe u jep hir të përulurve.”

Nënshtrojuni, pra, Perëndisë, kundërshtoni djallin dhe ai do të largohet nga ju!

Afrohuni te Perëndia dhe ai do t’ju afrohet juve; pastroni duart tuaja, o mëkatarë; dhe pastroni zemrat o njerëz me dy mendje!

Pikëllohuni, mbani zi dhe qani; të qeshurit tuaj le të kthehet në zi, dhe gëzimi në trishtim.

10 Përuluni përpara Zotit, dhe ai do t’ju lartësojë!

11 Mos flisni keq për njeri tjetrin, vë-llezër; ai që flet kundër vëllait dhe e gjykon vëllanë e vet, flet kundër ligjit dhe gjykon ligjin; dhe, po të gjykosh ligjin, ti nuk je zbatues i ligjit, por gjykatës.

12 Ka vetëm një Ligjdhënës, që mund të të shpëtojë ose të të çojë në humbje; por ti kush je që gjykon një tjetër?

13 Dhe tani, ju që thoni: “Sot ose nesër do të shkojmë në atë qytet, dhe do të rrijmë atje një vit, do të tregtojmë dhe do të fitojmë,”

14 ndërsa nuk dini për të nesërmen. Sepse ç’është jeta? Éshtë avull që duket për pak, dhe pastaj humbet.

15 Në vend që të thoni: “Në dashtë Zoti dhe në paçim jetë, ne do të bëjmë këtë ose atë gjë.”

16 Ju, përkundrazi, mburreni në arrogancën tuaj; çdo mburrje e tillë është e keqe.

17 Ai, pra, që di të bëjë të mirë edhe nuk e bën, bën mëkat.

Resist Pride and Evil

Where do quarrels and conflicts among you come from? Don’t they come from this, namely your passions that battle within your body parts? You crave and have not. You murder and you envy, yet you cannot get it. You fight and you wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives so you may spend it on your passions. You adulteresses![a] Don’t you 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. Or do you think that in vain the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit which He made to dwell in us”? But He gives greater grace. Therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”[b]

Therefore submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded! [c] Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of Adonai, and He shall lift you up. [d] 11 Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the Torah and judges the Torah. But if you judge the Torah, you are not a doer of the Torah, but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge[e]—the One who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you who judges your neighbor?

If the Lord Wills, We Will

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes. [f] 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore whoever knows the right thing to do and does not do it—for him it is sin.

Submit Yourselves to God

What causes fights and quarrels(A) among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle(B) within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill.(C) You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive,(D) because you ask with wrong motives,(E) that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

You adulterous(F) people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world(G) means enmity against God?(H) Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.(I) Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]?(J) But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”[c](K)

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,(L) and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.(M) Wash your hands,(N) you sinners, and purify your hearts,(O) you double-minded.(P) Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.(Q) 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.(R)

11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.(S) Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them(T) speaks against the law(U) and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it,(V) but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge,(W) the one who is able to save and destroy.(X) But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?(Y)

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Now listen,(Z) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”(AA) 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(AB) 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,(AC) we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.(AD) 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.(AE)

Footnotes

  1. James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
  2. James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
  3. James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
  4. James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.

Friendship with the World

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet[a] something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.(A) Adulterers![b] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.(B) Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks to no purpose? Does the spirit that God caused to dwell[c] in us desire envy?(C) But God gives all the more grace; therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud
    but gives grace to the humble.”(D)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.(E) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.(F) Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.(G)

Warning against Judging Another

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another 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.(H) 12 There is one lawgiver and judge[d] who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?(I)

Boasting about Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”(J) 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(K) 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”(L) 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it commits sin.(M)

Footnotes

  1. 4.2 Or you murder and you covet
  2. 4.4 Gk Adulterous women; other ancient authorities read Adulterous men and women
  3. 4.5 Other ancient authorities read the spirit that dwells
  4. 4.12 Other ancient authorities lack and judge

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.