James 4

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?	1 Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.	2 You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.	3 You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.	4 Adulterers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?	5 Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning when it says, "The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy"?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.	6 But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.	7 So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.	8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.	9 Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.	10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.	11 Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?	12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:	13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit"--
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.	14 you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.	15 Instead you should say, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that."
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.	16 But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.	17 So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.