James 5:1–20
Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged
5 Come now, you arich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your briches 1are corrupted, and cyour garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. dYou have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed ethe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and fthe cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of 2Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and 3luxury; you have 4fattened your hearts 5as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord 6is at hand.
9 Do not 7grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be 8condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 gMy brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and hpatience. 11 Indeed iwe count them blessed who jendure. You have heard of kthe perseverance of Job and seen lthe end intended by the Lord—that mthe Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brethren, ndo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into 9judgment.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him opray. Is anyone cheerful? pLet him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, qanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. rAnd if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 1Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. sThe effective, 2fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man twith a nature like ours, and uhe prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed vagain, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone wturns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way xwill save 3a soul from death and ycover a multitude of sins.
James 3:1–5:20
3 My brethren, alet not many of you become teachers, bknowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For cwe all stumble in many things. dIf anyone does not stumble in word, ehe is a 1perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 2Indeed, fwe put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so gthe tongue is a little member and hboasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And ithe tongue is a fire, a world of 3iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it jdefiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of 4nature; and it is set on fire by 5hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, kfull of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made lin the 6similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a mfig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? 7Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
Heavenly Versus Demonic Wisdom
13 nWho is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have obitter envy and 8self-seeking in your hearts, pdo not boast and lie against the truth. 15 qThis wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For rwhere envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But sthe wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, twithout partiality uand without hypocrisy. 18 vNow the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
4 Where do 1wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure athat war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and 2war. 3Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 bYou ask and do not receive, cbecause you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that dfriendship with the world is enmity with God? eWhoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, f“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
g“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
7 Therefore submit to God. hResist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 iDraw near to God and He will draw near to you. jCleanse your hands, you sinners; and kpurify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 lLament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 mHumble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
11 nDo not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother o…
James 4:1–17
4 Where do 1wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure athat war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and 2war. 3Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 bYou ask and do not receive, cbecause you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that dfriendship with the world is enmity with God? eWhoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, f“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
g“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
7 Therefore submit to God. hResist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 iDraw near to God and He will draw near to you. jCleanse your hands, you sinners; and kpurify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 lLament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 mHumble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
11 nDo not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother oand judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one 5Lawgiver, pwho is able to save and to destroy. qWho 6are you to judge 7another?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow 8we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? rIt is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, s“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. tAll such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, uto him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.