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Passions and Pride

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] 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; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

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. 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] But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”[i] So 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 make your hearts pure, you double-minded.[j] 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

  1. James 4:1 tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.
  2. James 4:1 tn Grk “from here.”
  3. James 4:1 tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”
  4. James 4:4 tn Grk “is hostility toward God.”
  5. James 4:5 tn Grk “vainly says.”
  6. James 4:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. James 4:6 sn A quotation from Prov 3:34.
  10. James 4:8 tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).
  11. 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.
  12. James 4:9 tn Grk “let your laughter be turned.”
  13. James 4:11 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
  14. James 4:11 tn See note on the word “believer” in 1:9.
  15. James 4:11 tn Grk “a judge.”
  16. James 4:12 tn Grk “who judges your neighbor.”
  17. James 4:13 tn Or “city.”
  18. 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.
  19. James 4:14 tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”
  20. 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).
  21. James 4:15 tn Grk “instead of your saying.”
  22. James 4:16 tn Grk “but now.”
  23. 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.
  24. James 4:17 tn Or “knows how to do what is good.”
  25. James 4:17 tn Grk “to him it is sin.”

与世俗为友就是与 神为敌

你们中间的争执和打斗是从哪里来的呢?不是从你们肢体中好斗的私欲来的吗? 你们放纵贪欲,如果得不到,就杀人;你们嫉妒,如果一无所得,就打斗争执。你们得不到,因为你们不求; 你们求也得不到,因为你们的动机不良,要把所得的耗费在你们的私欲上。 淫乱的人哪,你们不知道与世俗为友,就是与 神为敌吗?所以与世俗为友的,就成了 神的仇敌。 圣经说:“ 神爱他那安置在我们里面的灵,爱到嫉妒的地步”(或译:“ 神安置在我们里面的灵,爱到嫉妒的地步”),你们想这话是徒然的吗? 但 神所赐的恩更大;所以圣经上说:

“ 神抵挡骄傲的人,

赐恩给谦卑的人。”

你们应当顺服 神,抵挡魔鬼,魔鬼就逃避你们。 你们应当亲近 神, 神就亲近你们。罪人啊,要洁净你们的手;三心两意的人哪,要清洁你们的心。 你们要愁苦、悲哀、哭泣,把欢笑变为伤痛,把快乐变为忧愁。 10 你们务要在主面前谦卑,他就使你们高升。

不可彼此批评

11 弟兄们,不要互相毁谤;人若毁谤弟兄,或判断弟兄,就是毁谤律法、判断律法了。如果你判断律法,就不是实行律法的人,而是审判官了。 12 立法的,审判的,只有一位,就是那能拯救人,也能毁灭人的 神;你这判断邻舍的,你是谁呢?

不可自夸自恃

13 你们说:“今天或明天,我们要到某城去,在那里住一年,作生意赚钱。” 14 其实明天怎样,你们并不知道。你们的生命是甚么呢?你们本来是过眼云烟,转瞬之间就消逝了。 15 你们倒不如说:“主若愿意,我们就可以活着,作这事或作那事。” 16 但现在你们竟然张狂自夸;这一切自夸,都是邪恶的。 17 人若知道该行善事,却不去行,这就是他的罪了。

Pride Promotes Strife

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? 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. (B)You ask and do not receive, (C)because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. [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. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, (F)“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

(G)“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Humility Cures Worldliness

Therefore submit to God. (H)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (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. (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.

Footnotes

  1. James 4:1 battles
  2. James 4:2 battle
  3. James 4:2 NU, M omit Yet
  4. James 4:4 NU omits Adulterers and
  5. James 4:12 NU adds and Judge
  6. James 4:12 NU, M But who
  7. James 4:12 NU a neighbor
  8. James 4:13 M let us