James 4–5

Chapter 4

Things to Avoid

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 ^acommit murder. 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 ^chostility toward God? ^dTherefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself 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.”

^7aSubmit 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 weep; 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 speak against one another, ^bbrethren. He who speaks against a brother or ^cjudges his brother, speaks against ^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?

^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 just 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 the ¹right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Chapter 5

Misuse of Riches

^1aCome now, ^byou rich, ^cweep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.

^2aYour riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.

³Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is ^ain the last days that you have stored up your treasure!

⁴Behold, ^athe pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and ^bthe outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of ^cthe Lord of ¹Sabaoth.

⁵You have ^alived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have ¹fattened your hearts in ^ba day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned and ^1aput to death ^bthe righteous man; he does not resist you.

Exhortation

⁷Therefore be patient, ^abrethren, ^buntil the coming of the Lord. ^cThe farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until ¹it gets ^dthe early and late rains.

^8aYou too be patient; ^bstrengthen your hearts, for ^cthe coming of the Lord is ^dnear.

^9aDo not ¹complain, ^bbrethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, ^cthe Judge is standing ^2dright at the ³door.

¹⁰As an example, ^abrethren, of suffering and patience, take ^bthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

¹¹We count those ^ablessed who endured. You have heard of ^bthe ¹endurance of Job and have seen ^cthe ²outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that ^dthe Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

¹²But above all, ^amy brethren, ^bdo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but ¹your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

¹³Is anyone among you ^asuffering? ^bThen he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to ^csing praises.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for ^athe elders of the church and they are to pray over him, ^1banointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

¹⁵and the ^aprayer ¹offered in faith will ^2brestore the one who is sick, and the Lord will ^craise him up, and if he has committed sins, ³they will be forgiven him.

¹⁶Therefore, ^aconfess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ^bhealed. ^cThe effective ¹prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

¹⁷Elijah was ^aa man with a nature like ours, and ^bhe prayed ¹earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for ^cthree years and six months.

¹⁸Then he ^aprayed again, and ^bthe ¹sky ²poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹My brethren, ^aif any among you strays from ^bthe truth and one turns him back,

²⁰let him know that ¹he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will ^asave his soul from death and will ^bcover a multitude of sins.