James 4
New Testament for Everyone
Humility and faith
4 Where do wars come from? Why do people among you fight? It all comes from within, doesn’t it—from your desires for pleasure which make war in your members. 2 You want something and you haven’t got it, so you murder someone. You long to possess something, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war. The reason you don’t have it is because you don’t ask for it! 3 And when you do ask, you don’t get it, because you ask wrongly, intending to spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers! Don’t you know that to be friends with the world means being enemies with God? So anyone who wants to be friends with the world is setting themselves up as God’s enemy. 5 Or do you suppose that when the Bible says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit he has made to dwell in us,” it doesn’t mean what it says?
6 But God gives more grace; so it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit to God, then; resist the devil and he will run away from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Make your hands clean, you sinners; and make your hearts pure, you double-minded lot. 9 Make yourselves wretched; mourn and weep. Let your laughter turn to mourning, and your joy to sorrow. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Living by trust in God
11 Do not speak evil against one another, my dear family. Anyone who speaks evil against another family member, or passes judgment against them, 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, one judge who can rescue or destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Now look here, you people who say, “Today, or tomorrow, we will go to such-and-such a town and spend a year there, and trade, and make some money.” 14 You have no idea what the next day will bring. What is your life? You are a mist which appears for a little while and then disappears again. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live, and we shall do this, or that.” 16 But, as it is, you boast in your pride. All such boasting is evil. 17 So then, if anyone knows the right thing to do, but doesn’t do it, it becomes sin for them.
James 4
International Children’s Bible
Give Yourselves to God
4 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you. 2 You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want because you do not ask God. 3 Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things only so that you can use them for your own pleasures.
4 So, you people are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. So if a person wants to be a friend of the world, he makes himself God’s enemy. 5 Do you think the Scripture means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone.”[a] 6 But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says,
“God is against the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 3:34
7 So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run away from you. 8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You are sinners. So clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. 9 Be sad, cry, and weep! Change your laughter into crying. Change your joy into sadness. 10 Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will honor you.
You Are Not the Judge
11 Brothers, do not say bad things about each other. If you say bad things about your brother in Christ or judge him, then you are saying bad things about the law he follows. You are also judging the law he follows. And when you are judging the law, you are not a follower of the law. You have become a judge! 12 God is the only One who makes laws, and he is the only Judge. He is the only One who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge your neighbor.
Let God Plan Your Life
13 Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” 14 But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. 15 So you should say, “If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But now you are proud and you brag. All of this bragging is wrong. 17 And when a person knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, then he is sinning.
Footnotes
- 4:5 “The Spirit . . . alone.” These words may be from Exodus 20:5.
James 4
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
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.
Footnotes
- James 4:2 Or you kill and you covet
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.