James 4

1 From where are wars and fightings among you? Is it not from here: from your pleasures warring in your body-parts?

What is the cause of wars and fighting among you? is it not in your desires which are at war in your bodies?

2 Ye desire and do not have, so ye murder. And ye envy and cannot obtain, so ye fight and make war. Ye do not have, because ye do not ask.

You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it.

3 Ye ask, and do not receive, because ye ask wrongly, so that ye may spend on your pleasures.

You make your request but you do not get it, because your request has been wrongly made, desiring the thing only so that you may make use of it for your pleasure.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is hatred of God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.

5 Or think ye that the scripture says vainly, The Spirit that he caused to dwell in us yearns with jealousy?

Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us?

6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, God is opposed to the arrogant, but gives grace to the lowly.

But he gives more grace. So that the Writings say, God is against the men of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low before him.

7 Be subordinate therefore to God, but resist the devil and he will flee from you.

For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you.

8 Approach God and he will approach you. Cleanse the hands, ye sinners, and purify the hearts, ye double-minded.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Make your hands clean, you evil-doers; put away deceit from your hearts, you false in mind.

9 Be ye sorrowful, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into a downcast look.

Be troubled, with sorrow and weeping; let your laughing be turned to sorrow and your joy to grief.

10 Be ye made lower in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Make yourselves low in the eyes of the Lord and you will be lifted up by him.

11 Speak not against each other, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against law and judges law. But if thou judge law, thou are not a doer of law, but a judge.

Do not say evil against one another, my brothers. He who says evil against his brother or makes himself his brother's judge, says evil against the law and is judging the law: and in judging the law you become, not a doer of the law but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy, but thou, who are thou who judge the other man?

There is only one judge and law-giver, even he who has the power of salvation and of destruction; but who are you to be your neighbour's judge?

13 Go now, men who say, Today and tomorrow we will go into this city, and will operate one year there, and will engage in trade and will get gain-

How foolish it is to say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:

14 men who know not of the morrow. For what is your life? For it will be a vapor that appears for a little while, and then also vanishes away-

When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone.

15 in place of your saying, If the Lord should will, then we will live and do this or that.

But the right thing to say would be, If it is the Lord's pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.

16 But now ye boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

But now you go on glorying in your pride: and all such glorying is evil.

17 He therefore who knows to do good, and is not doing it, to him it is sin.

The man who has knowledge of how to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.