James 3:8-5:9

English Standard Version

⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^(A)full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^(B)who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,^[a] these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? ^(C)By his good conduct let him show his works ^(D)in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter ^(E)jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not ^(F)the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, ^(G)demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷ But ^(H)the wisdom from above is first pure, then ^(I)peaceable, gentle, open to reason, ^(J)full of mercy and good fruits, ^(K)impartial and ^(L)sincere. ¹⁸ And ^(M)a harvest of righteousness ^(N)is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Warning Against Worldliness

4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions^[b] are ^(O)at war within you?^{[c] 2} You 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. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^(P)wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ^4 (Q)You adulterous people!^[d] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(R)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^(S)that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But ^(T)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^(U)“God opposes the proud but ^(V)gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^(W)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (X)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^(Y)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^(Z)purify your hearts, ^(AA)you double-minded. ^9 (AB)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (AC)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

^11 (AD)Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.^[e] The one who speaks against a brother or ^(AE)judges 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. ¹² There is only ^(AF)one lawgiver and ^(AG)judge, he who is able to save and ^(AH)to destroy. But ^(AI)who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(AJ)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^(AK)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(AL)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^(AM)All such boasting is evil. ^17 (AN)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(AO)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(AP)miseries that are coming upon you. ^2 (AQ)Your riches have rotted and ^(AR)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(AS)You have laid up treasure ^(AT)in the last days. ⁴ Behold, ^(AU)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(AV)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(AW)the Lord of hosts. ^5 (AX)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(AY)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(AZ)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^(BA)murdered ^(BB)the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[f] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(BC)the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. ^(BD)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(BE)is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(BF)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(BG)the Judge is standing ^(BH)at the door.