James 4
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1Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
2You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you 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.
9Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and 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.11Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?12There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—
14whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.14yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
16But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.17So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
James 3
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