1577 James 5:12 de mon ic. 16 For where you have envy and self ish am bi tion, there you find dis or der and ev ery evil prac tice.
17 But the wis dom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-lov ing, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, im par tial and sin cere. 18 Peacemak ers who sow in peace reap a har vest of righteousness.
Submit Yourselves to God
What caus es fights and quar rels
4 among you? Don’ t they come from your de sires that bat tle with in you? 2 You de sire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you can not get what you want, so you quar rel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not re ceive, be cause you ask with wrong mo tives, that you may spend what you get on your plea sures.
4 You adulterous people, a don’ t you know that friend ship with the world means enmi ty against God? There fore, any one who choos es to be a friend of the world becomes an en e my of God. 5 Or do you think Scrip ture says with out rea son that he jealous ly longs for the spir it he has caused to dwell in us b? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scrip ture says:
“ God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” c
7 Sub mit your selves, then, to God. Re sist the dev il, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sin ners, and pu ri fy your hearts, you dou ble-mind ed. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laugh ter to mourn ing and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble your selves be fore the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Broth ers and sis ters, do not slan der one an oth er. Any one who speaks against a broth er or sis ter d or judg es them speaks against the law and judg es it. When you judge the law, you are not keep ing it, but sit ting in judg ment on it. 12 There is only one Law giv er and Judge, the one who is able to save and de stroy. But you— who are you to judge your neigh bor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Now lis ten, you who say,“ To day or to mor row we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, car ry on busi ness and make mon ey.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that ap pears 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 ar ro gant schemes. All such boast ing is evil. 17 If any one, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’ t do it, it is sin for them.
Warning to Rich Oppressors
Now lis ten, you rich peo ple, weep and
5 wail be cause of the mis ery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rot ted, and moths have eat en your clothes. 3 Your gold and sil ver are cor rod ed. Their cor ro sion will tes ti fy against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoard ed wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wag es you failed to pay the work ers who mowed your fields are cry ing out against you. The cries of the har vest ers have reached the ears of the Lord Al mighty. 5 You have lived on earth in lux u ry and self-in dul gence. You have fat tened your selves in the day of slaughter. e 6 You have con demned and mur dered the in no cent one, who was not op pos ing you.
Patience in Suffering
7 Be pa tient, then, broth ers and sis ters, un til the Lord’ s com ing. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valu able crop, pa tient ly wait ing for the au tumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be pa tient and stand firm, be cause the Lord’ s com ing is near. 9 Don’ t grumble against one another, broth ers and sis ters, or you will be judged. The Judge is stand ing at the door!
10 Broth ers and sis ters, as an ex am ple of pa tience in the face of suf fer ing, take the proph ets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have per se vered. You have heard of Job’ s perseverance and have seen what the Lord fi nal ly brought about. The Lord is full of com pas sion and mer cy.
12 Above all, my broth ers and sis ters, do not swear— not by heav en or by earth or by any thing else. All you need to say is a sim ple“ Yes” or“ No.” Oth er wise you will be condemned.
a 4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see
Hosea 3:1. b 5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously c 6 Prov. 3:34 d 11 The Greek word for brother or
sister( adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’ s family. e 5 Or yourselves as in a day of feasting