James 4

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A Warning against Pride

¹Πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν

¹What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?^a

²ἐπιθυμεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε φονεύετε καὶ ζηλοῦτε καὶ οὐ δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε οὐκ ἔχετε διὰ τὸ μὴ αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς

²You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.

³αἰτεῖτε καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετε διότι κακῶς αἰτεῖσθε ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ὑμῶν δαπανήσητε

³And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

⁴Μοιχαλίδες οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἡ φιλία τοῦ κόσμου ἔχθρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν ὃς ἐὰν οὖν βουληθῇ φίλος εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου ἐχθρὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ καθίσταται

⁴You adulteresses!^a Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself^b an enemy of God.

⁵ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει Πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν

⁵Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit^a He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

⁶μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν διὸ λέγει Ὁ Θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν

⁶But He gives us more grace. This is why it says:

“God opposes the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.”^a

Drawing Near to God

⁷Ὑποτάγητε οὖν τῷ Θεῷ ἀντίστητε δὲ τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ φεύξεται ἀφ’ ὑμῶν

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν καθαρίσατε χεῖρας ἁμαρτωλοί καὶ ἁγνίσατε καρδίας δίψυχοι

⁸Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹ταλαιπωρήσατε καὶ πενθήσατε καὶ κλαύσατε ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μετατραπήτω καὶ ἡ χαρὰ εἰς κατήφειαν

⁹Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

¹⁰ταπεινώθητε ἐνώπιον Κυρίου καὶ ὑψώσει ὑμᾶς

¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

¹¹Μὴ καταλαλεῖτε ἀλλήλων ἀδελφοί ὁ καταλαλῶν ἀδελφοῦ ἢ κρίνων τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καταλαλεῖ νόμου καὶ κρίνει νόμον εἰ δὲ νόμον κρίνεις οὐκ εἶ ποιητὴς νόμου ἀλλὰ κριτής

¹¹Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.

¹²εἷς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής ὁ δυνάμενος σῶσαι καὶ ἀπολέσαι σὺ δὲ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων τὸν πλησίον

¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Do Not Boast about Tomorrow

¹³Ἄγε νῦν οἱ λέγοντες Σήμερον ἢ αὔριον πορευσόμεθα εἰς τήνδε τὴν πόλιν καὶ ποιήσομεν ἐκεῖ ἐνιαυτὸν καὶ ἐμπορευσόμεθα καὶ κερδήσομεν

¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

¹⁴οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε τὸ τῆς αὔριον ποία ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν ἀτμὶς γάρ ἐστε ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον φαινομένη ἔπειτα καὶ ἀφανιζομένη

¹⁴You 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.

¹⁵Ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγειν ὑμᾶς Ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ καὶ ζήσομεν καὶ ποιήσομεν τοῦτο ἢ ἐκεῖνο

¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

¹⁶νῦν δὲ καυχᾶσθε ἐν ταῖς ἀλαζονείαις ὑμῶν πᾶσα καύχησις τοιαύτη πονηρά ἐστιν

¹⁶As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷εἰδότι οὖν καλὸν ποιεῖν καὶ μὴ ποιοῦντι ἁμαρτία αὐτῷ ἐστιν

¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.