James 3–4

3RD CHAPTER

Speak Wisely

¹Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more severely. 

²All of us make a lot of mistakes. If someone doesn’t make any mistakes when he speaks, he would be perfect. He would be able to control everything he does. ³We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we have control over everything they do. ⁴The same thing is true for ships. They are very big and are driven by strong winds. Yet, by using small rudders, pilots steer ships wherever they want them to go. ⁵In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can brag about doing important things. 

A large forest can be set on fire by a little flame. ⁶The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell. ⁷People have tamed all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures. ⁸Yet, no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison. 

⁹With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God’s likeness. ¹⁰Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen! ¹¹Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? ¹²My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water. 

Live Wisely

¹³Do any of you have wisdom and insight? Show this by living the right way with the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you are bitterly jealous and filled with self-centered ambition, don’t brag. Don’t say that you are wise when it isn’t true. ¹⁵That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It belongs to this world. It is self-centered and demonic. ¹⁶Wherever there is jealousy and rivalry, there is disorder and every kind of evil. 

¹⁷However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial, and sincere. ¹⁸A harvest that has God’s approval comes from the peace planted by peacemakers. 

4TH CHAPTER

Stop Fighting with Each Other

¹What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren’t they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you? ²You want what you don’t have, so you commit murder. You’re determined to have things, but you can’t get what you want. You quarrel and fight. You don’t have the things you want, because you don’t pray for them. ³When you pray for things, you don’t get them because you want them for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure. 

⁴You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that love for this ⸤evil⸥ world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God. ⁵Do you think this passage means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that lives in us wants us to be his own.” 

⁶But God shows us even more kindness.^aScripture says, 

“God opposes arrogant people, 

but he is kind to humble people.” 

⁷So place yourselves under God’s authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners, and clear your minds, you doubters. ⁹Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence. Then he will give you a high position. 

Stop Slandering Each Other

¹¹Brothers and sisters, stop slandering each other. Those who slander and judge other believers slander and judge God’s laws. If you judge God’s teachings, you are no longer following them. Instead, you are judging them. ¹²There is only one who creates laws and judges on the basis of them. He is able to save or destroy you. So who are you to judge your neighbor? 

Don’t Brag about Your Plans for the Future

¹³Pay attention to this! You’re saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go into some city, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money.” ¹⁴You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears. ¹⁵Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and carry out our plans.” ¹⁶However, you brag because you’re arrogant. All such bragging is evil. 

¹⁷Whoever knows what is right but doesn’t do it is sinning.