James 4
4
Friendship with the World
1From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth#4.5 dwelleth. Some early manuscripts have he made to dwell. in us lusteth to envy? 6#Prov 3.34. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith,
God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace unto the humble.
7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Judging a Brother
11Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Boast Not of Tomorrow
13 #
Prov 27.1. Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
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James 4: KJVAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
James 4
4
Warning Against Worldliness
1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions#4:1 Greek pleasures; also verse 3 are #Rom. 7:23; 1 Pet. 2:11at war within you?#4:1 Greek in your members 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask #[1 John 5:14]wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4#Isa. 54:5; Jer. 2:2 You adulterous people!#4:4 Or You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? #John 15:19; 1 John 2:15; [Matt. 6:24]Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit #1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16that he has made to dwell in us”? 6But #Isa. 54:7, 8; See Matt. 13:12 he gives more grace. Therefore it says, #1 Pet. 5:5; Cited from Prov. 3:34 (Gk.)“God opposes the proud but #Isa. 54:7, 8; See Matt. 13:12 gives grace to the humble.” 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. #1 Pet. 5:8, 9; [Eph. 4:27; 6:11]Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8#2 Chr. 15:2; Lam. 3:57; Zech. 1:3; Mal. 3:7; [Luke 15:20] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. #Isa. 1:16 Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and #Jer. 4:14 purify your hearts, #ch. 1:8you double-minded. 9#[Matt. 5:4]Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10#ver. 6; Isa. 57:15; [Luke 1:52]; See Matt. 23:12Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 #
2 Cor. 12:20; 1 Pet. 2:1; [ch. 5:9] Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.#4:11 Or brothers and sisters The one who speaks against a brother or #See Matt. 7:1judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12There is only #Isa. 33:22 one lawgiver and #ch. 5:9 judge, he who is able to save and #Matt. 10:28 to destroy. But #Rom. 14:4who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13Come now, you who say, #Prov. 27:1; Luke 12:18-20“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For #Ps. 102:3; [Job 7:7]you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15Instead you ought to say, #See Acts 18:21“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. #[1 Cor. 5:6]All such boasting is evil. 17#[Luke 12:47, 48; 2 Pet. 2:21]; See John 9:41So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
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