James 4

Passions and Pride

1 Where do the conflicts and wheret do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this,t from your passions that battle inside you?t2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask;

3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.
4 Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God?t So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says,t “The spirit that Godt causeds to live within us has an envious yearning”?ts6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”s7 So submit to God. But 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, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded.t9 Grieve, mourn,t and weep. Turn your laughtert into mourning and your joy into despair.

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters.t He who speaks against a fellow believert or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge.t

12 But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor?t
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that townt and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”14 Yout do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like?t For you are a puff of smoket that appears for a short time and then vanishes.15 You ought to say instead,t “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”16 But as it is,t you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

17 So whoever knows what is good to dot and does not do it is guilty of sin.t

JAMES 4

Friendship with the World

1 Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? 2 You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it.

3 Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.
4 You people aren't faithful to God! Don't you know if you love the world, you are God's enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you doubt the Scriptures that say, “God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us”?t

6 t In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say,
“God opposes everyone
who is proud,
but he blesses all who are humble
with undeserved grace.”
7 Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. 8 Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can't make up your mind. 9 Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad.

10 Be humble in the Lord's presence, and he will honor you.

Saying Cruel Things //about Others

12 or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?

Warning against Bragging