Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow [a]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? (A)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, (B)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. (C)All such boasting is evil.

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

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Footnotes

  1. James 4:13 M let us

Arrogant Boasting About the Future

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there, and carry on business and make a profit,” 14 you who do not know what will happen tomorrow[a], what your life will be like[b]. For you are a smoky vapor that appears for a short time and then disappears. 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to the one who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

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Footnotes

  1. James 4:14 Literally “the circumstance of tomorrow”
  2. James 4:14 Literally “of what sort your life”