James 3:9-5:12

English Standard Version

⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^(A)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? ^(B)By his good conduct let him show his works ^(C)in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter ^(D)jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not ^(E)the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, ^(F)demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷ But ^(G)the wisdom from above is first pure, then ^(H)peaceable, gentle, open to reason, ^(I)full of mercy and good fruits, ^(J)impartial and ^(K)sincere. ¹⁸ And ^(L)a harvest of righteousness ^(M)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 ^(N)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 ^(O)wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ^4 (P)You adulterous people!^[d] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(Q)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 ^(R)that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But ^(S)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^(T)“God opposes the proud but ^(U)gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^(V)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (W)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^(X)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^(Y)purify your hearts, ^(Z)you double-minded. ^9 (AA)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (AB)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

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

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(AI)“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 ^(AJ)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(AK)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^(AL)All such boasting is evil. ^17 (AM)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, ^(AN)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(AO)miseries that are coming upon you. ^2 (AP)Your riches have rotted and ^(AQ)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. ^(AR)You have laid up treasure ^(AS)in the last days. ⁴ Behold, ^(AT)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(AU)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(AV)the Lord of hosts. ^5 (AW)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(AX)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(AY)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^(AZ)murdered ^(BA)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 ^(BB)the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. ^(BC)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(BD)is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(BE)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(BF)the Judge is standing ^(BG)at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^(BH)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^(BI)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^(BJ)the purpose of the Lord, how ^(BK)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brothers, ^(BL)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.