James 4

1 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?

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 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.

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 And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander 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 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.

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 the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

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 us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes 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 Submit yourselves, then, 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, and 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 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter 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 before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Be made low in presence of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

11 Brothers, 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.

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 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

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 we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, 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 You 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.

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 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will 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 As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

Whereas, now, are ye boasting in your pretensions: —All boasting like this, is, wicked,

17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

To him, therefore, who knoweth how to be doing, a right thing, and is not doing it, it is, sin, unto him.