James 4
Living Bible
4 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can’t afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband’s enemies. Don’t you realize that making friends with God’s enemies—the evil pleasures of this world—makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God. 5 Or what do you think the Scripture means when it says that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, watches over us with tender jealousy? 6 But he gives us more and more strength to stand against all such evil longings. As the Scripture says, God gives strength to the humble but sets himself against the proud and haughty.
7 So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and let your hearts be filled with God alone to make them pure and true to him. 9 Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and sincere grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Then when you realize your worthlessness before the Lord, he will lift you up, encourage and help you.
11 Don’t criticize and speak evil about each other, dear brothers. If you do, you will be fighting against God’s law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong. But your job is not to decide whether this law is right or wrong, but to obey it. 12 Only he who made the law can rightly judge among us. He alone decides to save us or destroy. So what right do you have to judge or criticize others?
13 Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, stay there a year, and open up a profitable business.” 14 How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog—now you see it; soon it is gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you will be bragging about your own plans, and such self-confidence never pleases God.
17 Remember, too, that knowing what is right to do and then not doing it is sin.
James 4
The Message
Get Serious
4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.
4-6 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”
7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.
11-12 Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?
Nothing but a Wisp of Fog
13-15 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”
16-17 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.
James 4
Contemporary English Version
Friendship with the World
4 Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? 2 You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. 3 Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.
4 You people aren't faithful to God! Don't you know if you love the world, you are God's enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you doubt the Scriptures that say, “God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us”?[a] 6 (A) In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say,
“God opposes everyone
who is proud,
but he blesses all who are humble
with undeserved grace.”
7 Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. 8 Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can't make up your mind. 9 Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad. 10 Be humble in the Lord's presence, and he will honor you.
Saying Cruel Things about Others
11 My friends, don't say cruel things about others! If you do, or if you condemn others, you are condemning God's Law. And if you condemn the Law, you put yourself above the Law and refuse to obey either it 12 or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?
Warning against Bragging
13 (B)(C) You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” 14 What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. 15 You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” 16 Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud. 17 If you don't do what you know is right, you have sinned.
Footnotes
- 4.5 God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us: One possible meaning for the difficult Greek text; other translations are possible, such as, “the Spirit that God put in us truly cares.”
James 4
Modern English Version
Friendship With the World
4 Where do wars and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your lusts that war in your body? 2 You lust and do not have, so you kill. You desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your passions.
4 You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “He yearns jealously for the spirit that lives in us”[a]? 6 But He gives more grace. For this reason it says:
“God resists the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”[b]
7 Therefore submit yourselves 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 double-minded. 9 Grieve and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to dejection. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Judging a Brother
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. He who speaks evil of his brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
Warning Against Boasting
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit,” 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you are rejoicing in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin.
James 4
New English Translation
Passions and Pride
4 Where do the conflicts and where[a] do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this,[b] from your passions that battle inside you?[c] 2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.
4 Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God?[d] So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. 5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says,[e] “The spirit that God[f] caused[g] to live within us has an envious yearning”?[h] 6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”[i] 7 So submit to God. But 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 make your hearts pure, you double-minded.[j] 9 Grieve, mourn,[k] and weep. Turn your laughter[l] into mourning and your joy into despair. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters.[m] He who speaks against a fellow believer[n] or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge.[o] 12 But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge—the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor?[p]
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town[q] and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You[r] do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like?[s] For you are a puff of smoke[t] that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 15 You ought to say instead,[u] “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is,[v] you boast about your arrogant plans.[w] All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows what is good to do[x] and does not do it is guilty of sin.[y]
Footnotes
- James 4:1 tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.
- James 4:1 tn Grk “from here.”
- James 4:1 tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”
- James 4:4 tn Grk “is hostility toward God.”
- James 4:5 tn Grk “vainly says.”
- James 4:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- James 4:5 tc The Byzantine text and a few other mss (P 5 33 436 442 1243 1611 1735 1852 2344 2492 M) have the intransitive κατῴκησεν (katōkēsen) here, which turns τὸ πνεῦμα (to pneuma) into the subject of the verb: “The spirit which lives within us.” But the more reliable and older witnesses (P74 א B Ψ 049 1241 1739 al) have the causative verb, κατῴκισεν (katōkisen), which implies a different subject and τὸ πνεῦμα as the object: “The spirit that he causes to live within us.” Both because of the absence of an explicit subject and the relative scarcity of the causative κατοικίζω (katoikizō, “cause to dwell”) compared to the intransitive κατοικέω (katoikeō, “live, dwell”) in biblical Greek (κατοικίζω does not occur in the NT at all, and occurs much less frequently than κατοικέω in the LXX), it is easy to see why scribes would replace κατῴκισεν with κατῴκησεν. Thus, on internal and external grounds, κατῴκισεν is the preferred reading.
- James 4:5 tn Interpreters debate the referent of the word “spirit” in this verse: (1) The translation takes “spirit” to be the lustful capacity within people that produces a divided mind (1:8, 14) and inward conflicts regarding God (4:1-4). God has allowed it to be in man since the fall, and he provides his grace (v. 6) and the new birth through the gospel message (1:18-25) to counteract its evil effects. (2) On the other hand the word “spirit” may be taken positively as the Holy Spirit and the sense would be, “God yearns jealously for the Spirit he caused to live within us.” But the word for “envious” or “jealous” is generally negative in biblical usage and the context before and after seems to favor the negative interpretation.sn No OT verse is worded exactly this way. This is either a statement about the general teaching of scripture or a quotation from an ancient translation of the Hebrew text that no longer exists today.
- James 4:6 sn A quotation from Prov 3:34.
- James 4:8 tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).
- James 4:9 tn This term and the following one are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.
- James 4:9 tn Grk “let your laughter be turned.”
- James 4:11 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
- James 4:11 tn See note on the word “believer” in 1:9.
- James 4:11 tn Grk “a judge.”
- James 4:12 tn Grk “who judges your neighbor.”
- James 4:13 tn Or “city.”
- James 4:14 tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
- James 4:14 tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”
- James 4:14 tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).
- James 4:15 tn Grk “instead of your saying.”
- James 4:16 tn Grk “but now.”
- James 4:16 tn Or “you boast in your arrogance.” The translation in the text is based on two points: (1) The verb καυχάομαι (kauchaomai, “boast”) often uses the preposition ἐν (en) to indicate the focus of the boast (see BDAG 536 s.v. 1). (2) ἀλαζονεία (alazoneia, “arrogance”) here is plural and likely refers to the specific plans mentioned in v. 13.
- James 4:17 tn Or “knows how to do what is good.”
- James 4:17 tn Grk “to him it is sin.”
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