James 4
1 Now I will tell you why you are fighting among yourselves and quarreling with each other [RHQ]. It is [RHQ] because each of you wants to do evil things [PRS]. You keep on wanting to do things that are not [what God wants you to do].
D’où viennent les guerres et les procès entre vous? N’est-ce pas de là? de vos convoitises qui combattent dans vos membres?
2 There are things that you [very much] desire to have, but you do not get [those things, so] you [want to] kill [HYP] [those who hinder you from getting them]. You desire what [other people have], but you are unable to get [what you desire, so] you quarrel and fight [with one another] [HYP]. You do not have [what you desire] because you do not ask [God for it].
Vous convoitez et vous n’avez point; vous tuez, vous êtes envieux, et ne pouvez obtenir; vous plaidez et faites la guerre, et VOUS n’avez point, parce que vous ne demandez point.
3 [And even when] you do ask [him], he does not give you [what you ask for] because you are asking for the wrong reason. [You are asking for things] in order that you may use them just to (enjoy yourselves/make yourselves happy).
Vous demandez et ne recevez point, parce que vous demandez mal, pour satisfaire vos convoitises.
4 [Like] a woman who is unfaithful to her husband, you [are being unfaithful to God and not obeying him any more] [MET]. Those who are behaving as evil people do [MTY] (OR, Those who love [the evil pleasures of] this world) are hostile toward God. Perhaps you do not realize that [RHQ]. So those who decide to act as evil people do [MTY] become enemies of God.
Adultères, ne savez-vous point que l’amitié de ce monde est ennemie de Dieu? Quiconque donc veut être ami de ce monde se fait ennemi de Dieu.
5 (Surely you remember that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he eagerly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only!/Do you think that it is for no reason that [God told us in] the Scriptures that he strongly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love [God] only?) [RHQ] God has a reason for desiring that.
Pensez-vous que ce soit en vain que l’Ecriture dise: C’est après l’envie que soupire ardemment l’esprit qui habite en vous?
6 [It is because] he is kind [to us and he] wants very much to help us. That is why (someone said/[King Solomon] wrote) [in the Scriptures], “God opposes those who are proud, but he helps those who are humble.”
Mais il donne une grâce plus grande. C’est pourquoi elle dit: Dieu résiste aux superbes, mais aux humbles il donne la grâce.
7 So submit yourselves to God. (Resist the devil/Refuse to do what the devil wants), and [as a result] he will run away from you.
Soyez donc soumis à Dieu et résistez au diable, et il s’enfuira de vous.
8 Come near [spiritually] to God, and [as a result] he will come near to you. You who are sinners, stop doing what is wrong, and do only what is good [SYN, MET]. You who cannot decide [whether you will] ([commit yourselves to God/obey God completely]), stop thinking wrong thoughts, and think only pure thoughts [MTY].
Approchez-vous de Dieu, et il s’approchera de vous. Purifiez vos mains, pécheurs, et purifiez vos cœurs, vous doubles d’esprit;
9 Be sorrowful and weep/mourn [DOU] [because of the wrong things that you have done]. Do not laugh [DOU], ([enjoying only what you selfishly/enjoying only what you yourselves]) [desire]. Instead, be sad [because you have done what is wrong].
Sentez votre misère, et gémissez et pleurez; que votre rire se change en deuil, et votre joie en tristesse.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and [as a result] he will honor you.
Humiliez-vous devant le Seigneur, et il vous exaltera.
11 My fellow believers, stop saying evil things about one another, [because] those who say something evil about a fellow believer and [are therefore] condemning [one who is like] a brother [to them] are really speaking against the law [that God gave us to obey]. [In this law, God commanded] [MTY] [us to love others], and those who say evil things about fellow believers, [it is as though] they are saying that we do not have to do what [God] commanded. If you [(sg)] say that you do not have to do what God commanded, you [(sg)] are not obeying God’s law. Instead, you [(sg)] are claiming that you [have the authority] to condemn [others].
Mes frères, ne parlez point mal les uns des autres. Celui qui parle mal de son frère, ou qui juge son frère, parle mal de la loi et juge la loi. Or si tu juges la loi, tu n’en es pas l’observateur, mais le juge.
12 [But in fact], there is only one who [has the authority to] tell [people] what is right to do and to condemn [them, and that is God]. He alone is able to save [people] or to destroy people. [So], (you [(sg)] certainly have no right to decide how God should punish other people./who are you to decide how God should punish other people?) [RHQ]
Il n’y a qu’un législateur et qu’un juge qui peut perdre et sauver.
13 [Some of you] are [arrogantly] saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city. We will spend a year there and we will buy and sell things and earn a lot of money.” Now, you listen to me!
Mais qui es-tu, toi qui juges le prochain? Voyez maintenant, vous qui dites: Aujourd’hui ou demain nous irons dans cette ville; nous y demeurerons un an; nous trafiquerons et nous gagnerons beaucoup;
14 [You should not talk like that, because] you do not know what will happen tomorrow, and you do not know [how long] you will live! Your life [is short] [MET], [like] a mist that appears for a short time and then disappears.
Vous qui ne savez pas même ce qui sera demain.
15 Instead of [what you are saying], you should say, “If the Lord wills/desires, we will live and do this or that.”
Car qu’est-ce que votre vie? C’est une vapeur qui paraît pour un peu de temps, et qui ensuite sera dissipée. Au lieu de dire: Si le Seigneur le veut; et: Si nous vivons, nous ferons ceci ou cela.
16 But what you are doing is boasting about all the things that you arrogantly [plan to do]. Your boasting like that is evil.
Mais maintenant vous vous complaisez dans vos vaines présomptions. Toute complaisance semblable est mauvaise.
17 So if anyone knows the right thing that he should do, [but] he does not do it, he is sinning.
Celui donc qui sait le bien à faire et qui ne le fait pas, est coupable de péché.
