James 3-5

Contemporary English Version

The Tongue

3 My friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teachers will be judged more strictly than others. ^2 (A) All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.

³ By putting a bit into the mouth of a horse, we can turn the horse in different directions. ⁴ It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction. ⁵ Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things.

It takes only a spark to start a forest fire! ^6 (B) The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person's entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself. ⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed. ⁸ But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison.

^9-10 (C) My dear friends, with our tongues we speak both praises and curses. We praise our Lord and Father, and we curse people who were created to be like God, and this isn't right. ¹¹ Can clean water and dirty water both flow from the same spring? ¹² Can a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? Does fresh water come from a well full of salt water?

Wisdom from Above

^13 (D) Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do. ¹⁴ But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don't brag or lie to cover up the truth. ¹⁵ This kind of wisdom doesn't come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. ¹⁶ Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. ¹⁸ When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.

Friendship with the World

4 Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? ² You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. ³ Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.

⁴ You people aren't faithful to God! Don't you know if you love the world, you are God's enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. ⁵ Do you doubt the Scriptures that say, “God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us”?^{[a] 6 (E)} In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say,

⁷ Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can't make up your mind. ⁹ Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad. ¹⁰ Be humble in the Lord's presence, and he will honor you.

Saying Cruel Things about Others

¹¹ My friends, don't say cruel things about others! If you do, or if you condemn others, you are condemning God's Law. And if you condemn the Law, you put yourself above the Law and refuse to obey either it ¹² or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?

Warning against Bragging

^13 (F)(G) You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” ¹⁴ What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. ¹⁵ You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” ¹⁶ Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud. ¹⁷ If you don't do what you know is right, you have sinned.

Warning to the Rich

5 You rich people should cry and weep! Terrible things are going to happen to you. ^2 (H) Your treasures have already rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ^3 (I) Your money has rusted, and the rust will be evidence against you, as it burns your body like fire. Yet you keep on storing up wealth in these last days. ^4 (J) You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.

⁵ While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered. ^6 (K) You have condemned and murdered innocent people, who couldn't even fight back.

Be Patient and Kind

⁷ My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the autumn and spring rains to make their valuable crops grow. ⁸ Be patient like those farmers and don't give up. The Lord will soon be here! ⁹ Don't grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is right outside the door.

¹⁰ My friends, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They were patient, even when they had to suffer. ^11 (L) In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.

^12 (M) My friends, above all else, don't take an oath. You must not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. “Yes” or “No” is all you need to say. If you say anything more, you will be condemned.

¹³ If you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises. ^14 (N) If you are sick, ask the church leaders^[b] to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil^[c] on you in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them.

^16 (O) If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot. ^17 (P) Elijah was just as human as we are, and for three and a half years his prayers kept the rain from falling. ^18 (Q) But when he did pray for rain, it fell from the skies and made the crops grow.

¹⁹ My friends, if any followers have wandered away from the truth, you should try to lead them back. ^20 (R) If you turn sinners from the wrong way, you will save them from death, and many of their sins will be forgiven.