James 4
“What
causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires
that battle within you?
2 You
desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you
want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask GOD.
3 When you
ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you
may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You
adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the
world means enmity against GOD? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of
the world becomes an enemy of GOD.
5 Or do
you think Scripture says without reason that HE jealously longs for the spirit
he has caused to dwell in us?
6 But HE
gives us more GRACE. That is why Scripture says:
“GOD opposes the proud
but
shows favor to the HUMBLE.”
7 Submit
yourselves, then, to GOD.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come
near to GOD and
HE will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify
your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Grieve,
mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 HUMBLE yourselves
before THE LORD,
and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers
and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a
brother or sister or
judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the
law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
12 There is
ONLY ONE LAWGIVER AND
JUDGE,
THE ONE WHO IS ABLE TO SAVE
AND DESTROY.
But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Now
listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city,
spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
14 Why, 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 Instead,
you ought to say, “If it is THE LORD’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
16 As it
is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.
17 If
anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for
them.”
James 5
“Now
listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery
that is coming on you.
2 Your
wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.
3 Your
gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat
your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
4 Look!
The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying
out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of THE LORD ALMIGHTY.
5 You have
lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened
yourselves in the day of slaughter.
6 You have
condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
Patience in Suffering
7 Be PATIENT, then,
brothers and sisters, until THE LORD’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the
land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and
spring rains.
8 You too,
be PATIENT and
STAND(s) FIRM,
because THE LORD’s
coming is near.
9 Don’t
grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. THE JUDGE is
standing at the door!
10 Brothers
and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the
prophets who spoke in the name of THE LORD.
11 As you know,
we count as BLESSED
those who have PERSEVERED.
You have heard of Job’s PERSEVERANCE and
have seen what THE LORD
finally brought about. THE LORD is FULL OF COMPASSION AND MERCY.
12 Above
all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by
anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you
will be condemned.
13 Is
anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
14 Is
anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over
them and anoint them with oil in the name of THE LORD.
15 And the
prayer offered in FAITH will
make the sick person well;
THE LORD will
raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
16 Therefore
confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be
healed. The prayer of a RIGHTEOUS person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah
was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not
rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
18 Again he
prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
19 My
brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from THE TRUTH and
someone should bring that person back,
20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
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