Parallel Bible results for "james 4"

James 4

Young's Literal Translation YLT

1 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, because evilly ye ask, that in your pleasures ye may spend [it].

4 Adulterers and adulteresses! have ye not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? whoever, then, may counsel to be a friend of the world, an enemy of God he is set.

5 Do ye think that emptily the Writing saith, `To envy earnestly desireth the spirit that did dwell in us,'

6 and greater grace he doth give, wherefore he saith, `God against proud ones doth set Himself up, and to lowly ones He doth give grace?'

7 be subject, then, to God; stand up against the devil, and he will flee from you;

8 draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you; cleanse hands, ye sinners! and purify hearts, ye two-souled!

9 be exceeding afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter to mourning be turned, and the joy to heaviness;

10 be made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you.

11 Speak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;

12 one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; thou -- who art thou that dost judge the other?

13 Go, now, ye who are saying, `To-day and to-morrow we will go on to such a city, and will pass there one year, and traffic, and make gain;'

14 who do not know the thing of the morrow; for what is your life? for it is a vapour that is appearing for a little, and then is vanishing;

15 instead of your saying, `If the Lord may will, we shall live, and do this or that;'

16 and now ye glory in your pride; all such glorying is evil;

17 to him, then, knowing to do good, and not doing, sin it is to him.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves.

2 You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

3 And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

4 You're cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way.

5 And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "he's a fiercely jealous lover."

6 And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble."

7 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper.

8 Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field.

9 Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious.

10 Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.

11 Don't bad-mouth each other, friends. It's God's Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You're supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it.

12 God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?

13 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, "Today - at the latest, tomorrow - we're off to such and such a city for the year. We're going to start a business and make a lot of money."

14 You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.

15 Instead, make it a habit to say, "If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."

16 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil.

17 In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don't do it, that, for you, is evil.