James 4 - 1 Peter 2

New King James Version

Pride Promotes Strife

4 Where do ^[a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure ^(A)that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and ^[b]war. ^[c]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ^3 (B)You ask and do not receive, ^(C)because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ^4 [d]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that ^(D)friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(E)Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ^(F)“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

⁶ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

Humility Cures Worldliness

⁷ Therefore submit to God. ^(H)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ^8 (I)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. ^(J)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and ^(K)purify your hearts, you double-minded. ^9 (L)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (M)Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Do Not Judge a Brother

^11 (N)Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother ^(O)and judges his brother, speaks evil of 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 ^[e]Lawgiver, ^(P)who is able to save and to destroy. ^(Q)Who^[f] are you to judge ^[g]another?

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow ^[h]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? ^(R)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(S)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. ^(T)All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore, ^(U)to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

5 Come now, you ^(V)rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your ^(W)riches ^[i]are corrupted, and ^(X)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(Y)You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Indeed ^(Z)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and ^(AA)the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of ^[j]Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and ^[k]luxury; you have ^[l]fattened your hearts ^[m]as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^[n]is at hand.

⁹ Do not ^[o]grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be ^[p]condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! ^10 (AB)My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and ^(AC)patience. ¹¹ Indeed ^(AD)we count them blessed who ^(AE)endure. You have heard of ^(AF)the perseverance of Job and seen ^(AG)the end intended by the Lord—that ^(AH)the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brethren, ^(AI)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into ^[q]judgment.

Meeting Specific Needs^(AJ)

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him ^(AK)pray. Is anyone cheerful? ^(AL)Let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^(AM)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. ^(AN)And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ^16 [r]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. ^(AO)The effective, ^[s]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man ^(AP)with a nature like ours, and ^(AQ)he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed ^(AR)again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

¹⁹ Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone ^(AS)turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way ^(AT)will save ^[t]a soul from death and ^(AU)cover a multitude of sins.

Greeting to the Elect Pilgrims

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the ^[u]pilgrims ^(AV)of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ^2 (AW)elect ^(AX)according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(AY)in sanctification of the Spirit, for ^(AZ)obedience and ^(BA)sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

^(BB)Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

A Heavenly Inheritance

^3 (BC)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ^(BD)according to His abundant mercy ^(BE)has begotten us again to a living hope ^(BF)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance ^[v]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, ^(BG)reserved in heaven for you, ^5 (BH)who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

^6 (BI)In this you greatly rejoice, though now ^(BJ)for a little while, if need be, ^(BK)you have been ^[w]grieved by various trials, ⁷ that ^(BL)the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though ^(BM)it is tested by fire, ^(BN)may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ^8 (BO)whom having not ^[x]seen you love. ^(BP)Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, ¹¹ searching what, or what manner of time, ^(BQ)the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹² To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to ^[y]us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which ^(BR)angels desire to look into.

Living Before God Our Father

¹³ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not ^(BS)conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ^15 (BT)but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, ^(BU)“Be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷ And if you call on the Father, who ^(BV)without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your ^[z]stay here in fear; ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with ^[aa]corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹ but ^(BW)with the precious blood of Christ, ^(BX)as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. ^20 (BY)He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was ^[ab]manifest ^(BZ)in these last times for you ²¹ who through Him believe in God, ^(CA)who raised Him from the dead and ^(CB)gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The Enduring Word

²² Since you ^(CC)have purified your souls in obeying the truth ^[ac]through the Spirit in ^[ad]sincere ^(CD)love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ^23 (CE)having been born again, not of ^[ae]corruptible seed but ^[af]incorruptible, ^(CF)through the word of God which lives and abides ^[ag]forever, ²⁴ because

^(CI)Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood

2 Therefore, ^(CJ)laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ^2 (CK)as newborn babes, desire the pure ^(CL)milk of the word, that you may grow ^[aj]thereby, ³ if indeed you have ^(CM)tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People^(CN)

⁴ Coming to Him as to a living stone, ^(CO)rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

⁷ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who ^[ak]are disobedient,

⁸ and

^(CS)They stumble, being disobedient to the word, ^(CT)to which they also were appointed.

⁹ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of ^(CU)darkness into His marvelous light; ^10 (CV)who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Living Before the World

¹¹ Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts ^(CW)which war against the soul, ^12 (CX)having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, ^(CY)they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Submission to Government^(CZ)

^13 (DA)Therefore submit yourselves to every ^[al]ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— ^16 (DB)as free, yet not ^(DC)using liberty as a cloak for ^[am]vice, but as bondservants of God. ¹⁷ Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear ^(DD)God. Honor the king.

Submission to Masters^(DE)

^18 (DF)Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. ¹⁹ For this is ^(DG)commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. ²⁰ For ^(DH)what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. ²¹ For ^(DI)to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for ^[an]us, ^(DJ)leaving ^[ao]us an example, that you should follow His steps:

^23 (DL)who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but ^(DM)committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; ^24 (DN)who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, ^(DO)that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—^(DP)by whose ^[ap]stripes you were healed. ²⁵ For ^(DQ)you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned ^(DR)to the Shepherd and ^[aq]Overseer of your souls.