1 Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Is it not precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves?
2 You want something and you lack it; so you kill. You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force. It is because you do not pray that you do not receive;
3 when you do pray and do not receive, it is because you prayed wrongly, wanting to indulge your passions.
4 Adulterers! Do you not realise that love for the world is hatred for God? Anyone who chooses the world for a friend is constituted an enemy of God.
5 Can you not see the point of the saying in scripture, 'The longing of the spirit he sent to dwell in us is a jealous longing.'?
6 But he has given us an even greater grace, as scripture says: God opposes the proud but he accords his favour to the humble.
7 Give in to God, then; resist the devil, and he will run away from you.
8 The nearer you go to God, the nearer God will come to you. Clean your hands, you sinners, and clear your minds, you waverers.
9 Appreciate your wretchedness, and weep for it in misery. Your laughter must be turned to grief, your happiness to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who slanders a brother, or condemns one, is speaking against the Law and condemning the Law. But if you condemn the Law, you have ceased to be subject to it and become a judge over it.
12 There is only one lawgiver and he is the only judge and has the power to save or to destroy. Who are you to give a verdict on your neighbour?
13 Well now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow, we are off to this or that town; we are going to spend a year there, trading, and make some money.'
14 You never know what will happen tomorrow: you are no more than a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears.
15 Instead of this, you should say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we shall still be alive to do this or that.'
16 But as it is, how boastful and loud -- mouthed you are! Boasting of this kind is always wrong.
17 Everyone who knows what is the right thing to do and does not do it commits a sin.
Versículos relacionados com James, 4:
James chapter 4 approaches mainly the theme of humility and submission to God, warning against arrogance and the pursuit of worldly pleasure. The chapter also addresses the importance of seeking God's will and resisting the devil. Below are five verses related to the topics covered in James 4:
Proverbs 3:34: "He mocks the mocking, but grants grace to the humble." This verse talks about the importance of humility and how God gives grace to the humble, but resists arrogant.
1 Peter 5:5: "Similarly, young people are subjected to the elders. They are all humble to each other, because 'God is opposed to the proud, but grants grace to the humble.' This verse reinforces the importance of humility and submission to God, citing a passage similar to that quoted by James in his chapter.
1 John 2:15-17: "Do not love the world or what is there. If someone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the greed of the flesh, the greed of the eyes And the ostentation of goods - do not come from the Father, but the world. The world and his greed pass, but he who does God's will remains forever. " This verse warns of the pursuit of worldly pleasure and the importance of seeking God's will.
Ephesians 4:27: "And don't give way to the devil." This verse talks about the importance of resisting the devil, warning that he can find a breach if we don't keep ourselves firm in God.
1 Peter 5:8: "Be sober and watch. The devil, your enemy, walks around as a lion, roaring and seeking to those who can devour." This verse reinforces the importance of being alert against the devil's temptations, citing a passage similar to that cited by James in his chapter.
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