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 you like an uncontrolled militia? 2 You crave something that you do not possess, so you murder to get it. You desire the things you cannot earn, so you sue others and fight for what you want. You do not have because you have chosen not to ask. 3 And when you do ask, you still do not get what you want because your motives are all wrong—because you continually focus on self-indulgence. 4 You are adulterers. Don’t you know that making friends with this corrupt world order is open aggression toward God? So anyone who aligns with this bogus world system is declaring war against the one true God. 5 Do you think it is empty rhetoric when the Scriptures say, “The spirit that lives in us is addicted to envy and jealousy”?[a] 6 You may think that the situation is hopeless, but God gives us more grace when we turn away from our own interests. That’s why Scripture says,

God opposes the proud,
but He pours out grace on the humble.[b]

7 So submit yourselves to the one true God and fight against the devil and his schemes. If you do, he will run away in failure. 8 Come close to the one true God, and He will draw close to you. Wash your hands; you have dirtied them in sin. Cleanse your heart, because your mind is split down the middle, your love for God on one side and selfish pursuits on the other.

Since the beginning, our loving Creator has been pursuing us, drawing us closer to Him. He invites us to move closer to Him so we can be fully His.

9 Now is the time to lament, to grieve, and to cry. Dissolve your laughter into sobbing, and exchange your joy for depression. 10 Lay yourself bare, facedown to the ground, in humility before the Lord; and He will lift your head so you can stand tall. 11 My brothers and sisters, do not assault each other with criticism. If you decide your job is to accuse and judge another believer, then you are a self-appointed critic and judge of the law; if so, then you are no longer a doer of the law and subject to its rule; you stand over it as a judge. 12 Know this—there is One who stands supreme as Judge and Lawgiver. He alone is able to save and to destroy, so who are you to step in and try to judge another?

13 Listen carefully, those of you who make your plans and say, “We are traveling to this city in the next few days. We’ll stay there for one year while our business explodes and revenue is up.” 14 The reality is you have no idea where your life will take you tomorrow. You are like a mist that appears one moment and then vanishes another. 15 It would be best to say, “If it is the Lord’s will and we live long enough, we hope to do this project or pursue that dream.” 16 But your current speech indicates an arrogance that does not acknowledge the One who controls the universe, and this kind of big talking is the epitome of evil. 17 So if you know the right way to live and ignore it, it is sin—plain and simple.

Footnotes

  1. 4:5 Genesis 6:5
  2. 4:6 Proverbs 3:34

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