¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his^* good behavior his works, with the humility of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. ¹⁵This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, nonjudgmental, without hypocrisy, ¹⁸And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace among^e those who make peace.

Subject Yourselves to God

4From where are conflicts and from where are quarrels among you? Is it not from this, from your pleasures that wage war among your members? ²You desire and do not have; you murder and are filled with envy, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, in order that you may spend it on your pleasures.

⁴Adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think that in vain the scripture says, “The spirit which he caused to dwell in us desires jealously”?^a ⁶But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.”^b

Read in Logos

James 3:13: Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

Footnotes

*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
eOr “for”; or possibly “by”
aThis translation takes “spirit” to be the capacity within people that produces a divided mind and conflicts regarding God; other translations take this to refer to the Holy Spirit: “He (God) jealously desires the Spirit which he caused to dwell in us”
bA quotation from Prov 3:34