Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Obey God

4 Why do you fight and argue among yourselves? Isn’t it because of your sinful desires? They fight within you. ² You want something, but you don’t have it. So you kill. You want what others have, but you can’t get what you want. So you argue and fight. You don’t have what you want, because you don’t ask God. ³ When you do ask for something, you don’t receive it. That’s because you ask for the wrong reason. You want to spend your money on your sinful pleasures.

⁴ You are not faithful to God. Don’t you know that to be a friend of the world is to hate God? So anyone who chooses to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. ⁵ Don’t you know what Scripture says? God wants the spirit in us to belong only to him. God caused this spirit to live in us. Don’t you think Scripture has a reason for saying this? ⁶ But God continues to give us more grace. That’s why Scripture says,

⁷ So obey God. Stand up to the devil. He will run away from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can’t make up your minds. ⁹ Be full of sorrow. Cry and weep. Change your laughter to mourning. Change your joy to sadness. ¹⁰ Be humble in front of the Lord. And he will lift you up.

¹¹ My brothers and sisters, don’t speak against one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister speaks against the law. And anyone who judges another believer judges the law. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it. Instead, you are acting as if you were its judge. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. He is the God who is able to save life or destroy it. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Bragging About Tomorrow

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city. We will spend a year there. We will buy and sell and make money.” ¹⁴ You don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while. Then it disappears. ¹⁵ Instead, you should say, “If it pleases the Lord, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you brag. You brag about the evil plans your pride produces. This kind of bragging is evil. ¹⁷ So suppose someone knows the good deeds they should do. But suppose they don’t do them. By not doing these good deeds, they sin.

A Warning to Rich People

5 You rich people, listen to me. Cry and weep, because you will soon be suffering. ² Your riches have rotted. Moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver have lost their brightness. Their dullness will be a witness against you. Your wanting more and more will eat your body like fire. You have stored up riches in these last days. ⁴ You have even failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields. Their pay is crying out against you. The cries of those who gathered the harvest have reached the ears of the Lord. He rules over all. ⁵ You have lived an easy life on earth. You have given yourselves everything you wanted. You have made yourselves fat like cattle that will soon be butchered. ⁶ You have judged and murdered people who aren’t guilty. And they weren’t even opposing you.

Be Patient When You Suffer

⁷ Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes. See how the farmer waits for the land to produce its rich crop. See how patient the farmer is for the fall and spring rains. ⁸ You too must be patient. You must remain strong. The Lord will soon come back. ⁹ Brothers and sisters, don’t find fault with one another. If you do, you will be judged. And the Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, think about the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. They are an example of how to be patient when you suffer. ¹¹ As you know, we think that people who don’t give up are blessed. You have heard that Job was patient. And you have seen what the Lord finally did for him. The Lord is full of tender mercy and loving concern.

¹² My brothers and sisters, here is what is most important. Don’t make a promise by giving your word. Don’t promise by heaven or earth. And don’t promise by anything else to back up what you say. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” If you do more than this, you will be judged.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Then that person should pray. Is anyone among you happy? Then that person should sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Then that person should send for the elders of the church to pray over them. They should ask the elders to anoint them with olive oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ The prayer offered by those who have faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will heal them. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ So confess your sins to one another. Pray for one another so that you might be healed. The prayer of a godly person is powerful. Things happen because of it.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, just as we are. He prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain. And it didn’t rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again. That time it rained. And the earth produced its crops.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, suppose one of you wanders away from the truth. And suppose someone brings that person back. ²⁰ Then here is what I want you to remember. Anyone who keeps a sinner from going astray will save them from death. God will erase many sins by forgiving them.