James 4
1 Wherof ben batelis and cheestis among you? Whether not of youre coueitisis, that fiyten in youre membris?
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
2 Ye coueiten, and ye han not; ye sleen, and ye han enuye, and ye moun not gete. Ye chiden, and maken batel; and ye han not, for ye axen not.
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.
3 Ye axen, and ye resseyuen not; for that ye axen yuele, as ye schewen opynli in youre coueitisis.
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
4 Auowtreris, witen not ye, that the frenschip of this world is enemye to God? Therfor who euere wole be frend of this world, is maad the enemye of God.
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.
5 Whether ye gessen, that the scripture seith veynli, The spirit that dwellith in you, coueitith to enuye?
Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
6 But he yyueth the more grace; for which thing he seith, God withstondith proude men, but to meke men he yyueth grace.
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Therfor be ye suget to God; but withstonde ye the deuel, and he schal fle fro you.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Neiye ye to God, and he schal neiye to you. Ye synneris, clense ye hondis, and ye double in soule, purge ye the hertis.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be ye wretchis, and weile ye; youre leiyyng be turned in to weping, and ioye in to sorewe of herte.
Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
10 Be ye mekid in the siyt of the Lord, and he schal enhaunse you.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
11 My britheren, nyle ye bacbite ech othere. He that bacbitith his brothir, ethir that demeth his brothir, bacbitith the lawe, and demeth the lawe. And if thou demest the lawe, thou art not a doere of the lawe, but a domesman.
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.
12 But oon is makere of the lawe, and iuge, that may lese, and delyuere.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 And who art thou, that demest thi neiybore? Lo! now ye, that seien, To dai ethir to morewe we schulen go in to thilke citee, and there we schulen dwelle a yeer, and we schulen make marchaundise, and we schulen make wynning;
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.”
14 whiche witen not, what is to you in the morewe.
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.
15 For what is youre lijf? A smoke apperinge at a litil, and aftirward it schal be wastid. Therfor that ye seie, If the Lord wole, and if we liuen, we schulen do this thing, ether that thing.
Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”
16 And now ye maken ful out ioye in youre pridis; euery siche ioye is wickyd.
As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therfor it is synne to hym, that kan do good, and doith not.
Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
