James 4
1 What is the cause of the fighting and quarrelling that goes on among you? Is not it to be found in the desires which are always at war within you?
Πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν, ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν;
2 You crave, yet do not obtain. You murder and rage, yet cannot gain your end. You quarrel and fight. You do not obtain, because you do not ask.
ἐπιθυμεῖτε, καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε· φονεύετε καὶ ζηλοῦτε, καὶ οὐ δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν· μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε. οὐκ ἔχετε διὰ τὸ μὴ αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς·
3 You ask, yet do not receive, because you ask for a wrong purpose — to spend what you get upon your pleasures.
αἰτεῖτε, καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετε, διότι κακῶς αἰτεῖσθε, ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ὑμῶν δαπανήσητε.
4 Unfaithful people! Do not you know that to be friends with the world means to be at enmity with God? Therefore whoever chooses to be friends with the world makes himself an enemy to God.
μοιχαλίδες, οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἡ φιλία τοῦ κόσμου ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν; ὃς ἂν οὖν βουληθῇ φίλος εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου, ἐχθρὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσταται.
5 Do you suppose there is no meaning in the passage of Scripture which asks — ‘Is envy to result from the longings of the Spirit which God has implanted within you?’
ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει; πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν;
6 No; the gift that God gives is for a nobler end; and that is why it is said — ‘God is opposed to the haughty, but gives help to the humble.’
μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν· διὸ λέγει, Ὁ θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν.
7 Therefore submit to God; but resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.
Ὑποτάγητε οὖν τῷ θεῷ. ἀντίστητε δὲ τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ φεύξεται ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν,
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Make your hands clean, you sinners; and your hearts pure, you vacillating men!
ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν. καθαρίσατε χεῖρας, ἁμαρτωλοί, καὶ ἁγνίσατε καρδίας, δίψυχοι.
9 Grieve, mourn, and lament! Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your happiness to gloom!
ταλαιπωρήσατε καὶ πενθήσατε καὶ κλαύσατε· ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μεταστραφήτω, καὶ ἡ χαρὰ εἰς κατήφειαν.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
ταπεινώθητε ἐνώπιον κυρίου, καὶ ὑψώσει ὑμᾶς.
11 Do not disparage one another, Brothers. He who disparages his Brother, or passes judgment on his Brother, disparages the Law and passes judgment on the Law. But, if you pass judgment on the Law, you are not obeying it, but judging it.
Μὴ καταλαλεῖτε ἀλλήλων, ἀδελφοί· ὁ καταλαλῶν ἀδελφοῦ, ἢ κρίνων τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καταλαλεῖ νόμου καὶ κρίνει νόμον· εἰ δὲ νόμον κρίνεις, οὐκ εἶ ποιητὴς νόμου, ἀλλὰ κριτής.
12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge — he who has the power both to save and to destroy. But who are you that pass judgment on your neighbour?
εἷς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθέτης καὶ κριτὴς ὁ δυνάμενος σῶσαι καὶ ἀπολέσαι· σὺ δὲ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων τὸν πλησίον;
13 Listen to me, you who say ‘To-day or to-morrow we will go to such and such a town, spend a year there, and trade, and make money,’
Ἄγε νῦν οἱ λέγοντες, Σήμερον ἢ αὔριον πορευσόμεθα εἰς τήνδε τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ποιήσωμεν ἐκεῖ ἐνιαυτόν, καὶ ἐμπορευσόμεθα καὶ κερδήσομεν·
14 And yet you do not know what your life will be like to-morrow! For you are but a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing.
οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε τὸ τῆς αὔριον· ποία [γὰρ] ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν; ἀτμὶς γάρ ἐστε ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον φαινομένη ἔπειτα καὶ ἀφανιζομένη·
15 You ought, rather, to say ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’
ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγειν ὑμᾶς, Ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ καὶ ζήσομεν, καὶ ποιήσομεν τοῦτο ἢ ἐκεῖνο.
16 But, as it is, you are constantly boasting presumptuously! All such boasting is wicked.
νῦν δὲ καυχᾶσθε ἐν ταῖς ἀλαζονείαις ὑμῶν· πᾶσα καύχησις τοιαύτη πονηρά ἐστιν.
17 He, then, who knows what is right but fails to do it — that is sin in him.
εἰδότι οὖν καλὸν ποιεῖν καὶ μὴ ποιοῦντι, ἁμαρτία αὐτῷ ἐστιν.
