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James 4 (AMP)

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¹ WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members? ² You are jealous and covet and your desires go unfulfilled; you become murderers. You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain , so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ you do ask and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is to spend it in sensual pleasures. ⁴ You unfaithful wives ! Do you not know that being the world's friend is being God's enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit with a jealous love? ⁶ But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). ⁷ So be subject to God. Resist the devil , and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God and He will come close to you. sinners, get your soiled hands clean; wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts . ⁹ be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep . Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame . ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you . ¹¹ brethren, do not speak evil about or accuse one another. He that maligns a brother or judges his brother is maligning and criticizing the Law and judging the Law. But if you judge the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but a censor and judge . ¹² One only is the Lawgiver and Judge Who is able to save and to destroy . who are you that pass judgment on your neighbor? ¹³ Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and carry on our business and make money. ¹⁴ Yet you do not know about what may happen tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? You are but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears . ¹⁵ You ought instead to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that . ¹⁶ But as it is, you boast in your presumption and your self-conceit. All such boasting is wrong. ¹⁷ So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.