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James 4

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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¹ What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions ⓛ that wage war within you? [1]

² You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. [2] You do not have because you do not ask.

³ You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⓜ

⁴ You adulterous people! [3] Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. ⓝ

⁵ Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely? [4] ⓐ

⁶ But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. [5] ⓑ

⁷ Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⓒ

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

⁹ Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ⓔ

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

¹¹ Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer [6] defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ⓕ

¹² There is one lawgiver and judge [7] who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? ⓖ

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” ⓗ

¹⁴ Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. ⓘ

¹⁵ Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

¹⁶ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ⓙ

¹⁷ So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. ⓚ

#	CSB
1	What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions ⓛ that wage war within you? [1]
2	You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. [2] You do not have because you do not ask.
3	You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⓜ
4	You adulterous people! [3] Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. ⓝ
5	Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely? [4] ⓐ
6	But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. [5] ⓑ
7	Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⓒ
8	Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⓓ
9	Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ⓔ
10	Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11	Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer [6] defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ⓕ
12	There is one lawgiver and judge [7] who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? ⓖ
13	Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” ⓗ
14	Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. ⓘ
15	Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
16	But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ⓙ
17	So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. ⓚ

Footnotes & Cross-References

Footnotes

^{James 4:4 [5]} Or learn to live with your own wife; or learn to acquire a wife

^{James 4:6 [6]} The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.

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