James 4 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Pride Promotes Strife

4 Where do [a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure (A)that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and [b]war. [c]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 (B)You ask and do not receive, (C)because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 [d]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that (D)friendship with the world is enmity with God? (E)Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, (F)“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

(G)“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Humility Cures Worldliness

7 Therefore submit to God. (H)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 (I)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (J)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and (K)purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 (L)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (M)Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Do Not Judge a Brother

11 (N)Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother (O)and judges his brother, speaks evil of 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 one [e]Lawgiver, (P)who is able to save and to destroy. (Q)Who[f] are you to judge [g]another?

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow [h]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? (R)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, (S)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. (T)All such boasting is evil.

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

Footnotes

  1. James 4:1 battles
  2. James 4:2 battle
  3. James 4:2 NU, M omit Yet
  4. James 4:4 NU omits Adulterers and
  5. James 4:12 NU adds and Judge
  6. James 4:12 NU, M But who
  7. James 4:12 NU a neighbor
  8. James 4:13 M let us

Cross references

  1. James 4:1 : Rom. 7:23; [Gal. 5:17]; 1 Pet. 2:11
  2. James 4:3 : Job 27:8, 9
  3. James 4:3 : [Ps. 66:18]
  4. James 4:4 : Rom. 8:7; 1 John 2:15
  5. James 4:4 : Gal. 1:4
  6. James 4:5 : Gen. 6:5
  7. James 4:6 : Job 22:29; Ps. 138:6; Prov. 3:34; Matt. 23:12; 1 Pet. 5:5
  8. James 4:7 : [Eph. 4:27; 6:11]; 1 Pet. 5:8
  9. James 4:8 : 2 Chr. 15:2; Zech. 1:3; Mal. 3:7; Heb. 7:19
  10. James 4:8 : Job 17:9; Is. 1:16; 1 Tim. 2:8
  11. James 4:8 : Jer. 4:14; James 3:17; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:3
  12. James 4:9 : Matt. 5:4
  13. James 4:10 : Job 22:29; Luke 14:11; 18:14; 1 Pet. 5:6
  14. James 4:11 : 2 Cor. 12:20; Eph. 4:31; James 5:9; 1 Pet. 2:1–3
  15. James 4:11 : [Matt. 7:1–5]; Rom. 14:4
  16. James 4:12 : [Matt. 10:28]
  17. James 4:12 : Rom. 14:4
  18. James 4:14 : Job 7:7; Ps. 102:3; 1 Pet. 1:24
  19. James 4:15 : Acts 18:21; 1 Cor. 4:19
  20. James 4:16 : 1 Cor. 5:6
  21. James 4:17 : [Luke 12:47]; John 9:41; 2 Pet. 2:21

You Might Also Like:

James 4 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

4 Whence [are] wars and fightings among you? not thence -- out of your passions, that are as soldiers in your members? 2 ye desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking; 3 ye ask, and ye receive not, be...
Read More

James 4 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

4 Whereof be battles and chidings among you? Whether not of your covetings, that fight in your members? 2 Ye covet, and ye have not; ye slay, and ye have envy, and ye be not able to get [ye slay, and have envy, and ye be not able to get]. Ye chide, and make battle; and ye have not, for that ye ask ...
Read More

James 4 - Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE)

4 Why do you fight and quarrel? It is because your feelings are fighting inside of you. That is why you fight. 2 You want something but you cannot get it. Then you kill. You want something very much and cannot get it. So you quarrel and fight. You do not get it because you do not ask God for it. 3 Y...
Read More

James 4 - World English Bible (WEB)

4 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? 2 You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. 3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wro...
Read More

James 4 - The Voice (VOICE)

Worldly wisdom may promise the good life, but it leads to chaos and destruction every time. Ultimately true wisdom comes from God.4 Where do you think your fighting and endless conflict come from? Don’t you think that they originate in the constant pursuit of gratification that rages inside each of ...
Read More

James 4 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Resist Pride and Evil4 Where do quarrels and conflicts among you come from? Don’t they come from this, namely your passions that battle within your body parts? 2 You crave and have not. You murder and you envy, yet you cannot get it. You fight and you wage war. You do not have because you do not as...
Read More

James 4 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Friendship with the World4 What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? 2 You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet[a] and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask an...
Read More

James 4 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Friendship with the World4 What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? 2 You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet[a] and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask an...
Read More

James 4 - Revised Geneva Translation (RGT)

4 From where are wars and contentions among you? Do they not come from your sensual pleasures, which fight in your members? 2 You lust, and do not have. You envy and desire immoderately and cannot obtain. You fight and war and get nothing, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive because...
Read More

James 4 - New Testament for Everyone (NTE)

Humility and Faith4 Where do wars come from? Why do people among you fight? It all comes from within, doesn’t it – from your desires for pleasure which make war in your members. 2 You want something and you haven’t got it, so you murder someone. You long to possess something, but you can’t get it, ...
Read More

James 4 - New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Friendship with the World4 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet[a] something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and c...
Read More

James 4 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Friendship with the World4 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet[a] something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and c...
Read More

James 4 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Friendship with the World4 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet[a] something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and co...
Read More

James 4 - New Matthew Bible (NMB)

Conflict and fighting come from sensuality and covetousness. The friendship of the world is enmity before God. An exhortation to flee slander and the vanity of this life. 4 Where do conflict and fighting come from among you? Do they not come from the sensuality and covetousness that reign in your me...
Read More

James 4 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Drawing Close to God4 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away fro...
Read More

James 4 - New Life Version (NLV)

4 What starts wars and fights among you? Is it not because you want many things and are fighting to have them? 2 You want something you do not have, so you kill. You want something but cannot get it, so you fight for it. You do not get things because you do not ask for them. 3 Or if you do ask, yo...
Read More

James 4 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Pride Promotes Strife4 Where do [a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure (A)that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and [b]war. [c]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 (B)You ask...
Read More