James 4

CHAPTER 4

Draw Near to God

¹¹What is the source of quarrels and ^aconflicts among you? ²Is not the source your pleasures that wage ^bwar in your members?

²You lust and do not have, so you ^amurder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

³You ask and ^ado not receive, because you ask ¹with wrong motives, so that you may spend it ²on your pleasures.

⁴You ^aadulteresses, do you not know that friendship with ^bthe world is ^cenmity toward God? ^dTherefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think that the Scripture ^aspeaks to no purpose: “¹He ²jealously desires ^bthe Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

⁶But ^aHe gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “^bGod is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

^7aBe subject therefore to God. ^bResist the devil and he will flee from you.

^8aDraw near to God and He will draw near to you. ^bCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^cpurify your hearts, you ^ddouble-minded.

^9aBe miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.

^10aHumble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

^11aDo not slander one another, ^bbrothers. He who slanders a brother or ^cjudges his brother, slanders ^dthe law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not ^ea doer of the law but a judge of it.

¹²There is only one ^aLawgiver and Judge, the One who is ^bable to save and to destroy. But ^cwho are you who judge your neighbor?

Life Is a Vapor

^13aCome now, you who say, “^bToday or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”

¹⁴¹Yet you do not know ²what your life will be like tomorrow. ^aYou are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

¹⁵¹Instead, you ought to say, “^aIf the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

¹⁶But as it is, you boast in your ¹arrogance. ^aAll such boasting is evil.

¹⁷Therefore, ^ato one who knows to do the ¹right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.