James 4:13-5:12

New King James Version

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow ^[a]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? ^(A)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(B)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. ^(C)All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore, ^(D)to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

5 Come now, you ^(E)rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your ^(F)riches ^[b]are corrupted, and ^(G)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(H)You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Indeed ^(I)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and ^(J)the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of ^[c]Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and ^[d]luxury; you have ^[e]fattened your hearts ^[f]as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^[g]is at hand.

⁹ Do not ^[h]grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be ^[i]condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! ^10 (K)My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and ^(L)patience. ¹¹ Indeed ^(M)we count them blessed who ^(N)endure. You have heard of ^(O)the perseverance of Job and seen ^(P)the end intended by the Lord—that ^(Q)the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brethren, ^(R)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into ^[j]judgment.