New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
James 4
1
Why do you fight and argue among yourselves? Isn't it because of your sinful longings? They fight inside you.
Reference
2
You want something, but you can't get it. You kill and want what others have. But you can't have what you want. You argue and fight. You don't have what you want, because you don't ask God.
Reference
3
When you do ask for something, you don't receive it. Why? Because you ask for the wrong reason. You want to spend your money on your sinful pleasures.
Reference
4
You are not faithful to God. Don't you know that to be a friend of the world is to hate God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Reference
Parallel theme
John 15:19
John 17:14
Matthew 16:4
John 7:7
References God
Romans 8:7
Matthew 6:24
Galatians 1:10
James 1:27
Romans 5:10
Hosea 3:1
5
Don't you know what Scripture says? The spirit that God caused to live in us wants us to belong only to God. Don't you think Scripture has a reason for saying that?
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Corinthians 6:16
Titus 3:3
Psalm 37:1
Genesis 8:21
Spirit
1 Corinthians 6:19
Numbers 11:29
6
God continues to give us more grace. That's why Scripture says, "God opposes those who are proud. But he gives grace to those who are not." --(Proverbs 3:34)
Reference
Grace
Proverbs 3:34
1 Peter 5:5
Parallel theme
Matthew 23:12
Psalm 138:6
Proverbs 18:12
Proverbs 29:23
Proverbs 22:4
Isaiah 2:17
Job 22:29
Luke 14:11
7
So obey God. Stand up to the devil. He will run away from you.
Reference
Evil
Ephesians 4:27
Parallel theme
Hebrews 12:9
Job 1:21
Matthew 11:29
1 Peter 2:13
References God
1 Peter 5:6
Romans 10:3
2 Chronicles 30:8
Psalm 66:3
Ephesians 5:21
8
Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can't make up your minds.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 145:18
Hebrews 10:22
Malachi 3:7
Zechariah 1:3
2 Chronicles 15:2
1 John 3:3
Jeremiah 4:14
References God
Psalm 51:10
Hebrews 7:19
Sin
Ezekiel 18:31
9
Be full of sorrow. Cry and sob. Change your laughter to crying. Change your joy to sadness.
Reference
10
Bow down to the Lord. He will lift you up.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 23:12
1 Peter 5:6
Luke 14:11
Job 22:29
Psalm 113:7
Luke 1:52
1 Samuel 2:9
Luke 18:14
References Lord
Psalm 147:6
Psalm 27:6
11
My brothers and sisters, don't speak against one another. Anyone who speaks against another believer speaks against the law. And anyone who judges another believer judges the law. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it. Instead, you are acting as if you were its judge.
Reference
Evil
1 Peter 2:1
Psalm 140:11
Judgment
Romans 2:1
James 5:9
Luke 6:37
1 Corinthians 4:5
Ephesians 4:31
2 Corinthians 12:20
Parallel theme
2 Timothy 3:3
1 Timothy 3:11
12
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. He is the One who is able to save life or destroy it. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Reference
Judgment
Romans 14:4
Romans 2:1
James 5:9
Romans 14:13
Parallel theme
Matthew 10:28
Romans 9:20
Luke 12:5
Salvation
Isaiah 33:22
Hebrews 7:25
Word
Job 38:2
13
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city. We will spend a year there. We will buy and sell and make money."
Reference
14
You don't even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while. Then it disappears.
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Peter 1:24
Psalm 39:5
1 John 2:17
Psalm 102:3
Psalm 89:47
James 1:10
1 Peter 4:7
Isaiah 38:12
15
Instead, you should say, "If it pleases the Lord, we will live and do this or that."
Reference
Parallel theme
Hebrews 6:3
Acts 18:21
Romans 1:10
Romans 15:32
References Lord
Proverbs 19:21
Lamentations 3:37
1 Corinthians 16:7
1 Corinthians 4:19
16
As it is, you are proud. You brag about it. That kind of bragging is evil.
Reference
Evil
Psalm 52:7
Isaiah 47:10
Parallel theme
Proverbs 27:1
1 Corinthians 5:6
Proverbs 25:14
Revelation 18:7
Psalm 52:1
James 3:14
Summary of James 4
James 4 teaches that conflict, jealousy, selfish ambition, pride, worldly desire, judgmental speech, and arrogant planning all reveal hearts that have become too closely attached to the values of the world, while believers are called to submit themselves to God, resist evil, draw near to Him, repent sincerely, humble themselves, treat others with mercy, acknowledge God's authority over the future, and actively do the good they already know they should do.
The chapter begins by examining the source of conflicts and arguments, explaining that outward disputes often begin with inward desires that compete for control of the heart.
People want things they cannot obtain, become jealous when others possess what they desire, and may eventually fight because their ambitions have become more important than their relationships.
James also explains that people sometimes fail to receive what they need because they do not ask God, while even their prayers can become ineffective when their motives are focused primarily on satisfying personal pleasures.
The chapter then uses strong language to describe worldliness, calling friendship with the world's sinful values spiritual adultery because believers cannot give their deepest loyalty simultaneously to God and to a system of desires that opposes Him.
God desires wholehearted devotion, and therefore He gives greater grace to those who recognize their dependence upon Him rather than those who proudly rely upon themselves.
James summarizes this response with a series of practical commands: submit to God, resist the devil, draw near to God, cleanse sinful behavior, purify the heart, repent, mourn over sin, and humble yourself before the Lord.
The promise is that God will respond to genuine humility by lifting the humble person up.
James then addresses judgmental speech, warning believers not to speak maliciously against one another or place themselves above other people as though they possess God's ultimate authority.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, so Christians should recognize the limits of their own authority and leave final judgment to God.
The chapter then turns toward another form of pride: arrogant planning.
James describes people who confidently announce their plans to travel to a particular city, conduct business, make money, and achieve success without acknowledging that their lives and circumstances remain under God's authority.
The problem is not planning itself, but the attitude that assumes human beings completely control the future.
James reminds believers that they do not know what tomorrow will bring, comparing human life to a vapor that appears briefly and then disappears.
Therefore, Christians should approach future plans with humility, recognizing that their plans depend upon God's will.
The chapter concludes with a particularly important principle concerning known responsibility.
If someone knows what is right but deliberately refuses to do it, that person is guilty of sin.
James therefore moves beyond the idea that sin only means doing something obviously wrong and teaches that refusing to do known good is also a serious failure of obedience.
The central message of James 4 is that believers must reject the pride, selfish desires, jealousy, worldly values, judgmental attitudes, and self-reliance that produce conflict and distance from God, instead choosing humble submission, sincere repentance, resistance against evil, dependence upon God's grace, compassionate treatment of others, humble planning under God's will, and active obedience to every good thing they already understand they should do.
The chapter begins by examining the source of conflicts and arguments, explaining that outward disputes often begin with inward desires that compete for control of the heart.
People want things they cannot obtain, become jealous when others possess what they desire, and may eventually fight because their ambitions have become more important than their relationships.
James also explains that people sometimes fail to receive what they need because they do not ask God, while even their prayers can become ineffective when their motives are focused primarily on satisfying personal pleasures.
The chapter then uses strong language to describe worldliness, calling friendship with the world's sinful values spiritual adultery because believers cannot give their deepest loyalty simultaneously to God and to a system of desires that opposes Him.
God desires wholehearted devotion, and therefore He gives greater grace to those who recognize their dependence upon Him rather than those who proudly rely upon themselves.
James summarizes this response with a series of practical commands: submit to God, resist the devil, draw near to God, cleanse sinful behavior, purify the heart, repent, mourn over sin, and humble yourself before the Lord.
The promise is that God will respond to genuine humility by lifting the humble person up.
James then addresses judgmental speech, warning believers not to speak maliciously against one another or place themselves above other people as though they possess God's ultimate authority.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, so Christians should recognize the limits of their own authority and leave final judgment to God.
The chapter then turns toward another form of pride: arrogant planning.
James describes people who confidently announce their plans to travel to a particular city, conduct business, make money, and achieve success without acknowledging that their lives and circumstances remain under God's authority.
The problem is not planning itself, but the attitude that assumes human beings completely control the future.
James reminds believers that they do not know what tomorrow will bring, comparing human life to a vapor that appears briefly and then disappears.
Therefore, Christians should approach future plans with humility, recognizing that their plans depend upon God's will.
The chapter concludes with a particularly important principle concerning known responsibility.
If someone knows what is right but deliberately refuses to do it, that person is guilty of sin.
James therefore moves beyond the idea that sin only means doing something obviously wrong and teaches that refusing to do known good is also a serious failure of obedience.
The central message of James 4 is that believers must reject the pride, selfish desires, jealousy, worldly values, judgmental attitudes, and self-reliance that produce conflict and distance from God, instead choosing humble submission, sincere repentance, resistance against evil, dependence upon God's grace, compassionate treatment of others, humble planning under God's will, and active obedience to every good thing they already understand they should do.