James 4
1599 Geneva Bible
4 1 He reckoneth up the mischiefs that proceed of the works of the flesh. 7 He exhorteth to humility, 8 and to purge the heart 3 from pride, 10 backbiting, 14 and the forgetfulness of our own infirmity.
1 From [a]whence are wars and contentions among you? are they not hence, even of your pleasures, that fight in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye envy, and desire immoderately, and cannot obtain: ye fight, and war, and get nothing, [b]because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye might lay the same on your pleasures.
4 [c]Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the amity of the world is the enmity of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, maketh himself the enemy of God.
5 [d]Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us, lusteth after envy?
6 But the Scripture offereth more grace, and therefore saith, (A)God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
7 (B)[e]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, ye sinners, and purge your hearts, ye double minded.
9 [f]Suffer afflictions, and sorrow ye, and weep: let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into [g]heaviness.
10 (C)Cast down yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 [h]Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, or he that condemneth his brother, speaketh evil of the Law, and condemneth the Law: and if thou condemnest the Law, thou art not an observer of the Law, but a judge.
12 There is one Lawgiver, which is able to save, and to destroy, (D)Who art thou that judgest another man?
13 [i]Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain,
14 (And yet ye cannot tell what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and afterward vanisheth away.)
15 For that ye ought to say, (E)If the Lord will, and if we live, we will do this or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 [j]Therefore to him that knoweth how to do well, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Footnotes
- James 4:1 He goeth on forward in the same argument, condemning certain other causes of wars and contentions, to wit, unbridled pleasures and immoderate lusts, by their effects, for so much as the Lord doth worthily make them void, so that they bring nothing else to them in whom they are but incurable torments.
- James 4:2 He reprehendeth them by name, which are not ashamed to go about to make God the minister and helper of their lusts and pleasures, in asking things which either are of themselves unlawful, or being lawful, ask them to wicked purposes and uses.
- James 4:4 Another reason why such unbridled lusts and pleasures are utterly to be condemned, to wit, because that he that giveth himself to the world, divorceth himself from God, and breaketh the band of that holy and spiritual marriage.
- James 4:5 The taking away of an objection: Indeed our minds run headlong into these vices, but we ought so much the more diligently take heed of them: which care and study shall not be in vain, seeing that God resists the stubborn, and giveth that grace to the modest and humble that surmounteth all those vices.
- James 4:7 The conclusion: We must set the contrary virtues against those vices, and therefore whereas we obeyed the suggestions of the devil, we must submit our minds to God, and resist the devil, with a certain and assured hope of victory: To be short, we must employ ourselves to come near unto God by purity and sincerity of life.
- James 4:9 He goeth on in the same comparison of contraries, and setteth against those profane joys with an earnest sorrow of mind, and against pride and arrogance, holy modesty.
- James 4:9 By this word the Greeks meant an heaviness joined with shamefastness, which is to be seen in a cast down countenance, and settled as it were upon the ground.
- James 4:11 He reprehended most sharply another double mischief of pride: the one is in that the proud and arrogant will have other men to live according to their will and pleasure and therefore they do most arrogantly condemn whatsoever pleaseth them not: which thing cannot be done without great injury to our only Lawmaker, for by this means his Laws are found fault withal, as not circumspectly enough written, and men challenge that unto themselves which properly belongeth to God alone, in that they lay a Law upon men’s consciences.
- James 4:13 The other fault is this: that men do so confidently determine upon these and those matters and businesses, as though that every moment of their life did not depend of God.
- James 4:17 The conclusion of all the former treatise: The knowledge of the will of God doth not only nothing at all profit, unless the life be answerable unto it, but also maketh the sins far more grievous.
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
International Standard Version
Stop Fighting with Each Other
4 Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they? 2 You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them! 3 You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God[a] caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?[b] 6 But he gives all the more grace. And so he says,
“God opposes the arrogant
but gives grace to the humble.”[c]
7 Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. 8 Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.
Do Not Criticize Each Other
11 Do not criticize each other, brothers. Whoever makes it his habit to criticize his brother or to judge his brother is judging the Law and condemning the Law. But if you condemn the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but its judge. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge—the one who can save and destroy. So who are you to judge your neighbor?
Do Not Boast about Future Plans
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money.” 14 You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live—and do this or that.” 16 But you boast about your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, anyone who knows what is right but fails to do it is guilty of sin.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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