James 4:16

16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:16 in Other Translations

KJV
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
ESV
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
NLT
16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
MSG
16 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil.
CSB
16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

James 4:16

But now ye rejoice in your boastings
Of tomorrow, and of the continuance of life, and of going to such a place, and abiding there for such a time, and of trading and trafficking with great success, to the obtaining of much gain and riches; see ( Proverbs 27:1 )

all such rejoicing is evil;
wicked and atheistical, as expressing a neglect of and independence on Providence; arrogating and ascribing too much to themselves, their power and will, as if they had their lives and fortunes in their own hands, and at their own dispose, when all depend upon the will of God. The Syriac version renders it, "all such rejoicing is from evil"; from an evil heart, and from the evil one, Satan.

James 4:16 In-Context

14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.
17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 1 Corinthians 5:6
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