James 4
1 Whence is it, that there are among you fightings and broils? Is it not from the lusts, which war in your members?
Where do conflicts and quarrels among you come from? Do they not come from your passions that war in your members?
2 Ye covet, and possess not; and ye kill, and envy, and effect nothing: and ye fight and make attacks; and ye have not, because ye ask not.
You lust, and do not have. You kill, covet, and cannot obtain. You fight and make war. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 Ye ask, and receive not; because ye ask wickedly, that ye may pamper your lusts.
You ask, and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
4 Ye adulterers, know ye not, that the love of the world is hostility towards God? He therefore who chooseth to be a lover of this world, is the enemy of God.
You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or think ye, that the scripture hath vainly said: The spirit dwelling in us lusteth with envy?
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit which he made to dwell in us yearns jealously"?
6 But our Lord hath given us more grace. Therefore he said: The Lord humbleth the lofty, and giveth grace to the lowly.
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
7 Subject yourselves therefore to God; and stand firm against Satan, and he will flee from you.
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners: sanctify your hearts, ye divided in mind.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Humble yourselves, and mourn: let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into grief.
Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Speak not against each other, my brethren; for he that speaketh against his brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law. And if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but its judge.
Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one Law-giver and Judge, who can make alive, and can destroy: but who art thou, that thou judgest thy neighbor?
Only one is the lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 But what shall we say of those, who say: To-day or to-morrow we will go to such or such a city, and will abide there a year; and we will traffic, and get gain?
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let us go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."
14 And they know not what will be to-morrow: for what is our life, but an exhalation that is seen a little while, and then vanisheth and is gone?
Whereas you do not know what tomorrow will be like. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Whereas they should say: If the Lord please, and we live, we will do this or that.
For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."
16 They glory in their vaunting. All such glorying is evil.
But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
17 He that knoweth the good, and doeth it not, to him is sin.
To him therefore who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.
