James 4
1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
Whence wars and whence fightings among you? are they not from hence—due to your pleasures which are taking the field in your members?
2 You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask.
Ye covet—and have not, ye commit murder, and are jealous—and cannot obtain, —ye fight and war. Ye have not—because ye do not really ask,
3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Ye ask and receive not, because that, basely, ye ask, in order that, in your pleasures, ye may spend [it].
4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Adulteresses! Know ye not that, the friendship of the world, is, enmity to God? Whosoever, therefore, is minded to be, a friend, of the world, an enemy of God, doth constitute himself.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?
Or think ye that, in vain, the scripture speaketh? Is it, for envying, that the spirit which hath taken an abode within us doth crave?
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Howbeit he giveth, greater, favour. Wherefore it saith—God, against the haughty, arrayeth himself, Whereas, unto the lowly, he giveth favour.
7 Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Range yourselves, therefore, under God, but withstand the adversary, and he will flee from you:
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Draw near unto God, and he will draw near unto you. Cleanse hands, sinners! Chasten hearts, double souls!
9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Be miserable and lament and weep, let, your laughter, into lamentation, be turned, and, your joy, into dejection;
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Be made low in presence of the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Be not speaking one against another, brethren! He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against law, and judgeth law; Now, if, upon law, thou art passing judgment, thou art not a doer of law, but a judge!
12 Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?
One, is Lawgiver and Judge—He who hath power to save and to destroy; but who art, thou, that judgest thy neighbour?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.”
Come now! ye that say—Today or To-morrow, we will journey unto this city here, and will spend there a year, and will trade and get gain, —
14 Yet you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Men who are not versed in the morrow—of what sort your life [will be]; for ye are, a vapour—for a little, appearing, then, just disappearing!
15 For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.”
Instead of your saying—If, the Lord, be pleased, we shall both, live and do this or that;
16 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
Whereas, now, are ye boasting in your pretensions: —All boasting like this, is, wicked,
17 To him therefore who knows to do good and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.
To him, therefore, who knoweth how to be doing, a right thing, and is not doing it, it is, sin, unto him.
