James 4:13–5:6

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³Come now, you who say, ^s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵Instead you ought to say, ^u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^vAll such boasting is evil. ^17wSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

5Come now, ^xyou rich, weep and howl for the ^ymiseries that are coming upon you. ^2zYour riches have rotted and ^zyour garments are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^aYou have laid up treasure ^bin the last days. ⁴Behold, ^cthe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^dthe cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^ethe Lord of hosts. ^5fYou have lived on the earth in luxury and ^gin self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^ha day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and ⁱmurdered ^jthe righteous person. He does not resist you.