| King James Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? | 1What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? |
| 2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. | 2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. |
| 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. | 3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. |
| 4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. | 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. |
| 5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? | 5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? |
| 6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. | 6But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” |
| 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. | 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. |
| 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. | 8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. |
| 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. | 9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. |
| 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. | 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. |
| 11Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. | 11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. |
| 12There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? | 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? |
| 13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: | 13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” |
| 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. | 14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. |
| 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. | 15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” |
| 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. | 16As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. |
| 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. | 17Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin. |
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