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The General Epistle of James

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

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- Chapter 4 -

1
From where [are] wars and fightings among you? [Is it] not from here, out of your passions warring in your members?
2
You desire, and do not have, [so] you murder; and you are zealous, and are not able to attain, [so] you fight and war; and you do not have, because of your not asking;
3
you ask, and you do not receive, because you ask badly, that you may spend [it] in your pleasures.
4
Adulterers and adulteresses! Have you not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever, then, may intend to be a friend of the world, he is designated [as] an enemy of God.
5
Or, do you think that the Writing says emptily, “The Spirit that has dwelt in us yearns with envy,”
6
but [God] gives greater grace, for this reason it says, “God sets Himself up against proud ones, and He gives grace to lowly ones.”

Drawing Near to God

7
Be subject, then, to God; stand up against the Devil, and he will flee from you;
8
draw near to God, and He will draw near to you; cleanse hands, you sinners! And purify hearts, you split-souled!
9
Be exceedingly afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and the joy to heaviness;
10
be made low before the LORD, and He will exalt you.
11
Do not speak against one another, brothers; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, speaks against law, and judges law, and if you judge law, you are not a doer of law but a judge.
12
One is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; you—who are you that judges the other?

Do Not Boast about Tomorrow

(Proverbs 27:1)
13
Go, now, you who are saying, “Today and tomorrow we will go on to such a city, and will pass there one year, and traffic, and make gain,”
14
who does not know the thing of tomorrow; for what is your life? For it is a vapor that is appearing for a little [while], and then is vanishing;
15
instead, you [ought] to say, “If the LORD may will, we will live, and do this or that”;
16
but now you glory in your pride; all such glorying is evil;
17
to him, then, knowing to do good, and not doing [it], it is sin to him.
Copyright © 2020 Covenant Press and the CCC - licensed under CC BY-SA
1
Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
2
You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask.
3
You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4
You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?
6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”(a)

Drawing Near to God

7
Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9
Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11
Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and 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
Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

Do Not Boast about Tomorrow

(Proverbs 27:1)
13
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.”
14
Yet you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15
For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.”
16
But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
17
To him therefore who knows to do good and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.

Footnotes

(a)4:6 ℘ Proverbs 3:34
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