James 4
Legacy Standard Bible
Draw Near to God
4 [a]What is the source of quarrels and (A)conflicts among you? [b]Is not the source your pleasures that wage (B)war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have, so you (C)murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and (D)do not receive, because you ask [c]with wrong motives, so that you may spend it [d]on your pleasures. 4 You (E)adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with (F)the world is (G)enmity toward God? (H)Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture (I)speaks to no purpose: “[e]He [f]jealously desires (J)the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But (K)He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “(L)God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 (M)Be subject therefore to God. (N)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 (O)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (P)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and (Q)purify your hearts, you (R)double-minded. 9 (S)Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (T)Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
11 (U)Do not slander one another, (V)brothers. He who slanders a brother or (W)judges his brother, slanders (X)the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not (Y)a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one (Z)Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is (AA)able to save and to destroy. But (AB)who are you who judge your neighbor?
Life Is a Vapor
13 (AC)Come now, you who say, “(AD)Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 [g]Yet you do not know [h]what your life will be like tomorrow. (AE)You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 [i]Instead, you ought to say, “(AF)If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your [j]arrogance. (AG)All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, (AH)to one who knows to do the [k]right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Footnotes
- James 4:1 Lit From where wars and from where fightings
- James 4:1 Lit Are they not from here, from your
- James 4:3 Lit wickedly
- James 4:3 Lit in
- James 4:5 Or The spirit which He has made to dwell in us lusts with envy
- James 4:5 Lit desires to jealousy
- James 4:14 Lit Who do not
- James 4:14 Or what will happen tomorrow. What kind of life is yours?
- James 4:15 Lit Instead of your saying
- James 4:16 Or pretensions
- James 4:17 Or good
James 4
New Century Version
Give Yourselves to God
4 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that war within 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 so you can use them for your own pleasures.
4 So, you are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy. 5 Do you think the Scripture means nothing that 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 completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you. 8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who 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 and your joy into sadness. 10 Humble yourself in the Lord’s presence, and he will honor you.
You Are Not the Judge
11 Brothers and sisters, do not tell evil lies about each other. If you speak against your fellow believers or judge them, you are judging and speaking against the law they follow. And when you are judging the law, you are no longer a follower of the law. You have become a judge. 12 God is the only Lawmaker and 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 Anyone who knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, is sinning.
Footnotes
- 4:5 “The Spirit . . . alone.” These words may be from Exodus 20:5.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
