Jame 4

1 Nangmih khuikah caemthoh te me lamkah lae, rhalthohnah me lamkah lae? He lamkah moenih a? Nangmih omthenbawnnah lamkah ni namamih kah pumrho dongah na vathoh uh.

Now I will tell you why you are fighting among yourselves and quarreling with each other [RHQ]. It is [RHQ] because each of you wants to do evil things [PRS]. You keep on wanting to do things that are not [what God wants you to do].

2 Na hue uh dae na dang uh moenih, na ngawn uh dae na thatlai uh. Hmuh hamla na coeng uh pawt dongah na hnuei uh thae tih na tloek uh thae. Na bih uh pawt dongah na khueh uh pawh.

There are things that you [very much] desire to have, but you do not get [those things, so] you [want to] kill [HYP] [those who hinder you from getting them]. You desire what [other people have], but you are unable to get [what you desire, so] you quarrel and fight [with one another] [HYP]. You do not have [what you desire] because you do not ask [God for it].

3 Na bih uh dae namamih kah omthenbawnnah neh hnonah ham voek na bih dongah na dang uh pawh.

[And even when] you do ask [him], he does not give you [what you ask for] because you are asking for the wrong reason. [You are asking for things] in order that you may use them just to (enjoy yourselves/make yourselves happy).

4 Samphaih rhoek aw, Diklai sanaep tah Pathen kah thunkha ni tila na ming uh moenih a? Diklai kah paya la om ham a ngaih long tah Pathen kah rhal ni a saii coeng.

[Like] a woman who is unfaithful to her husband, you [are being unfaithful to God and not obeying him any more] [MET]. Those who are behaving as evil people do [MTY] (OR, Those who love [the evil pleasures of] this world) are hostile toward God. Perhaps you do not realize that [RHQ]. So those who decide to act as evil people do [MTY] become enemies of God.

5 Cacim loh, “Mueihla te mamih ah khosak sak ham uetnah neh a rhingda,” a ti te vapsa la na poek uh.

(Surely you remember that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he eagerly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only!/Do you think that it is for no reason that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he strongly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only?) [RHQ] God has a reason for desiring that.

6 Tedae lungvatnah muep a paek dongah, “Pathen loh buhueng aka pom uh te a pakai tih tlayae te lungvatnah a paek,” a ti.

[It is because] he is kind [to us and he] wants very much to help us. That is why (someone said/[King Solomon] wrote) [in the Scriptures], “God opposes those who are proud, but he helps those who are humble.”

7 Te dongah, Pathen taengla boe na ngai uh tih rhaithae te na tungkha uh daengah ni nangmih taeng lamloh a rhaelrham eh.

So submit yourselves to God. (Resist the devil/Refuse to do what the devil wants), and [as a result] he will run away from you.

8 Pathen taengla yoei uh lamtah nangmih taengla ha yoei bitni. Tholh kut te cilpoe uh lamtah thinko Cikcok te ciim uh laeh.

Come near [spiritually] to God, and [as a result] he will come near to you. You who are sinners, stop doing what is wrong, and do only what is good [SYN, MET]. You who cannot decide [whether you will] ([commit yourselves to God/obey God completely]), stop thinking wrong thoughts, and think only pure thoughts [MTY].

9 Cip uh lamtah, nguek uh lamtah rhap uh laeh. Na nueih te ngueknah la, omngaihnah te kothaenah la poeh saeh.

Be sorrowful and weep/mourn [DOU] [because of the wrong things that you have done]. Do not laugh [DOU], ([enjoying only what you selfishly/enjoying only what you yourselves]) [desire]. Instead, be sad [because you have done what is wrong].

10 Boeipa hmaiah na tlarhoel uh daengah ni nangmih te m'pomsang eh.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and [as a result] he will honor you.

11 Khat neh khat yan uh thae boeh. Manuca rhoek, a manuca aka yan, manuca te lai aka thui tah olkhueng ni a yan tih olkhueng ni lai a tloek thil. Olkhueng te lai na tloek thil uh coeng dae laitloekkung loh olkhueng aka rhoihkung la na om uh moenih.

My fellow believers, stop saying evil things about one another, [because] those who say something evil about a fellow believer and [are therefore] condemning [one who is like] a brother [to them] are really speaking against the law [that God gave us to obey]. [In this law, God commanded] [MTY] [us to love others], and those who say evil things about fellow believers, [it is as though] they are saying that we do not have to do what [God] commanded. If you [(sg)] say that you do not have to do what God commanded, you [(sg)] are not obeying God’s law. Instead, you [(sg)] are claiming that you [have the authority] to condemn [others].

12 Olrhikung neh laitloekkung tah pakhat ni. Amah loh khang ham neh a paci sak ham coeng thai. Tedae imben lai aka tloek thil nangmih te u nim.

[But in fact], there is only one who [has the authority to] tell [people] what is right to do and to condemn [them, and that is God]. He alone is able to save [people] or to destroy people. [So], (you [(sg)] certainly have no right to decide how God should punish other people./who are you to decide how God should punish other people?) [RHQ]

13 “Tihnin neh thangvuen ah hekah kho la n'cet vetih kum khat a thok hil hno n'yoih ni, n'dang ni,” aka ti rhoek te maerhae coeng.

[Some of you] are [arrogantly] saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city. We will spend a year there and we will buy and sell things and earn a lot of money.” Now, you listen to me!

14 Nangmih loh thangvuen kah na hingnah te metla a om khaw na hmat uh moenih. Tuihu loh kolkalh ah phoe tih a cing banglam ni na om uh.

[You should not talk like that, because] you do not know what will happen tomorrow, and you do not know [how long] you will live! Your life [is short] [MET], [like] a mist that appears for a short time and then disappears.

15 “Boeipa loh a ngaih tih ng'hing uh atah he khaw, ke khaw n'saii uh van bitni,” na ti uh mako.

Instead of [what you are saying], you should say, “If the Lord wills/desires, we will live and do this or that.”

16 Namamih kah oekhlawnnah neh na pomsang uh coeng dae tebang hoemdamnah boeih tah a thae lamni a om.

But what you are doing is boasting about all the things that you arrogantly [plan to do]. Your boasting like that is evil.

17 Te dongah a then saii ham a ming tih a saii pawt dongah anih ham tholhnah la a om pah.

So if anyone knows the right thing that he should do, [but] he does not do it, he is sinning.