Outline
VI.
Taming the Tongue (3:1-12)
VII.
Two Kinds of Wisdom (3:13-18)
VIII.
Warning against
Worldliness (ch. 4)
.
Quarrelsomeness (4:1-3)
A. Spiritual Unfaithfulness (4:4)
B. Pride (4:5-10)
C. Slander (4:11-12)
D. Boasting (4:13-17)
IX.
Warning to Rich
Oppressors (5:1-6)
X.
Miscellaneous
Exhortations (5:7-20)
.
Concerning Patience in
Suffering (5:7-11)
A. Concerning Oaths (5:12)
B. Concerning the Prayer of Faith (5:13-18)
C. Concerning Those Who Wander from the Truth (5:19-20)
James 3 NLT
1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many
of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged
more strictly.
2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes.
For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control
ourselves in every other way.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever
we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.
4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship
turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.
5 In the same way, the tongue is a
small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest
on fire.
6 And among all the parts of the body,
the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting
your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by
hell itself.
7 People can tame all kinds of animals,
birds, reptiles, and fish,
8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is
restless and evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and
Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of
God.
10 And so blessing and cursing come
pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not
right!
11 Does a spring of water bubble out
with both fresh water and bitter water?
12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a
grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty
spring.
13 If you are wise and understand God’s
ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility
that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you are bitterly jealous and
there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting
and lying.
15 For jealousy and selfishness are not
God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
16 For wherever there is jealousy and
selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of
all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to
others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism
and is always sincere.
18 And those who are
peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
James 4 NLT
1 What is causing the quarrels and
fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within
you?
2 You want what you don’t have, so you
scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t
get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have
what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
3 And even when you ask, you don’t get
it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you
pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize
that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If
you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
5 Do you think the Scriptures have no
meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within
us should be faithful to him.
6 And he gives grace generously. As the
Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come close to God, and God will come
close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your
loyalty is divided between God and the world.
9 Let there be tears for what you have
done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of
laughter, and gloom instead of joy.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will lift you up in honor.
11 Don’t speak evil against each other,
dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are
criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to
judge whether it applies to you.
12 God alone, who gave the law, is the
Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have
to judge your neighbor?
13 Look here, you who say, “Today or
tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do
business there and make a profit.”
14 How do you know what your life will
be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while,
then it’s gone.
15 What you ought to say is, “If the
Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
16 Otherwise you are boasting about your
own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
17 Remember, it is sin
to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
James 5 NLT
1 Look here, you rich people: Weep and
groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.
2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your
fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded.
The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This
corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of
judgment.
4 For listen! Hear the cries of the
field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who
harvest your fields have reached the ears of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
5 You have spent your years on earth in
luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day
of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and killed
innocent people, who do not resist you.
7 Dear brothers and sisters, be patient
as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for
the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable
harvest to ripen.
8 You, too, must be patient. Take
courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
9 Don’t grumble about each other,
brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at
the door!
10 For examples of patience in
suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the
name of the Lord.
11We give great honor to those who endure
under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance.
You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of
tenderness and mercy.
12 But most of all, my brothers and
sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a
simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.
13 Are any of you suffering hardships?
You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.
14 Are any of you sick? You should call
for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil
in the name of the Lord.
15Such a prayer offered in faith will heal
the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins,
you will be forgiven.
16 Confess your sins to each other and
pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a
righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
17 Elijah was as human as we are, and
yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a
half years!
18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky
sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, if
someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back,
20you can be sure that
whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death
and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
