James 4

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.