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James 4

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1 Πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν, ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν; 2 ἐπιθυμεῖτε, καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε: φονεύετε καὶ ζηλοῦτε, καὶ οὐ δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν: μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε. οὐκ ἔχετε διὰ τὸ μὴ αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς: 3 αἰτεῖτε καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετε, διότι κακῶς αἰτεῖσθε, ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ὑμῶν δαπανήσητε. 4 μοιχαλίδες, οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἡ φιλία τοῦ κόσμου ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ὃς ἐὰν οὖν βουληθῇ φίλος εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου, ἐχθρὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσταται. 5 ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν; 6 μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν: διὸ λέγει, ὁ θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν. 7 ὑποτάγητε οὖν τῷ θεῷ: ἀντίστητε δὲ τῷ διαβόλῳ, καὶ φεύξεται ἀφ' ὑμῶν: 8 ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν. καθαρίσατε χεῖρας, ἁμαρτωλοί, καὶ ἁγνίσατε καρδίας, δίψυχοι. 9 ταλαιπωρήσατε καὶ πενθήσατε, καὶ κλαύσατε: ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μετατραπήτω καὶ ἡ χαρὰ εἰς κατήφειαν. 10 ταπεινώθητε ἐνώπιον κυρίου, καὶ ὑψώσει ὑμᾶς.

1 What leads to war, what leads to quarrelling among you? I will tell you what leads to them; the appetites which infest your mortal bodies. 2 Your desires go unfulfilled, so you fall to murdering; you set your heart on something, and cannot have your will, so there is quarrelling and fighting. Why cannot you have your will? Because you do not pray for it, 3 or you pray, and what you ask for is denied you, because you ask for it with ill intent; you would squander it on your appetites. 4 Wantons, have you never been told that the world’s friendship means enmity with God, and the man who would have the world for his friend makes himself God’s enemy? 5 Do you think scripture means nothing when it tells you that the Spirit which dwells in you loves with a jealous love?[1] 6 No, the grace he gives us is something better still; and so he tells us, God flouts the scornful, and gives the humble man his grace.[2] 7 Be God’s true subjects, then; stand firm against the devil, and he will run away from you, 8 come close to God, and he will come close to you. You that are sinners must wash your hands clean, you that are in two minds must purify the intention of your hearts. 9 Bring yourselves low with mourning and weeping, turn your laughter into sadness, your joy into downcast looks; 10 humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1 Unde bella et lites in vobis? nonne hinc: ex concupiscentiis vestris, quæ militant in membris vestris? 2 concupiscitis, et non habetis: occiditis, et zelatis: et non potestis adipisci: litigatis, et belligeratis, et non habetis, propter quod non postulatis. 3 Petitis, et non accipitis: eo quod male petatis: ut in concupiscentiis vestris insumatis. 4 Adulteri, nescitis quia amicitia hujus mundi inimica est Dei? quicumque ergo voluerit amicus esse sæculi hujus, inimicus Dei constituitur. 5 An putatis quia inaniter Scriptura dicat: Ad invidiam concupiscit spiritus qui habitat in vobis? 6 majorem autem dat gratiam. Propter quod dicit: Deus superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam. 7 Subditi ergo estote Deo, resistite autem diabolo, et fugiet a vobis. 8 Appropinquate Deo, et appropinquabit vobis. Emundate manus, peccatores: et purificate corda, duplices animo. 9 Miseri estote, et lugete, et plorate: risus vester in luctum convertatur, et gaudium in mœrorem. 10 Humiliamini in conspectu Domini, et exaltabit vos.

11 Μὴ καταλαλεῖτε ἀλλήλων, ἀδελφοί: ὁ καταλαλῶν ἀδελφοῦ ἢ κρίνων τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καταλαλεῖ νόμου καὶ κρίνει νόμον: εἰ δὲ νόμον κρίνεις, οὐκ εἶ ποιητὴς νόμου ἀλλὰ κριτής. 12 εἷς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής, ὁ δυνάμενος σῶσαι καὶ ἀπολέσαι: σὺ δὲ τίς εἶ, ὁ κρίνων τὸν πλησίον; 13 Ἄγε νῦν οἱ λέγοντες, σήμερον ἢ αὔριον πορευσόμεθα εἰς τήνδε τὴν πόλιν καὶ ποιήσομεν ἐκεῖ ἐνιαυτὸν καὶ ἐμπορευσόμεθα καὶ κερδήσομεν: 14 οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε τὸ τῆς αὔριον ποία ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν. ἀτμὶς γάρ ἐστε ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον φαινομένη, ἔπειτα καὶ ἀφανιζομένη: 15 ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγειν ὑμᾶς: ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ, καὶ ζήσομεν καὶ ποιήσομεν τοῦτο ἢ ἐκεῖνο. 16 νῦν δὲ καυχᾶσθε ἐν ταῖς ἀλαζονείαις ὑμῶν: πᾶσα καύχησις τοιαύτη πονηρά ἐστιν. 17 εἰδότι οὖν καλὸν ποιεῖν καὶ μὴ ποιοῦντι, ἁμαρτία αὐτῷ ἐστιν.

11 Brethren, do not disparage one another. In disparaging one of his brethren, in passing judgement on him, a man disparages the law, passes judgement on the law; and in passing judgement on the law thou art setting thyself up to be its censor, instead of obeying it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver, only one Judge, he who has power to destroy and to set free. 13 Who art thou, to sit in judgement on thy neighbour?

See how you go about saying, To-day, or to-morrow, we will make our way to such and such a town, spend a year there, and make profit by trading, 14 when you have no means of telling what the morrow will bring. 15 What is your life but a wisp of smoke, which shews for a moment and then must vanish into nothing? You ought to be saying, We will do this or that if it is the Lord’s will, and if life is granted us. 16 As it is, your self-conceit makes boasters of you; all such boastfulness is an evil thing. 17 Yes, if a man has the power to do good, it is sinful in him to leave it undone.[3]

11 Nolite detrahere alterutrum fratres. Qui detrahit fratri, aut qui judicat fratrem suum, detrahit legi, et judicat legem. Si autem judicas legem, non es factor legis, sed judex. 12 Unus est legislator et judex, qui potest perdere et liberare. 13 Tu autem quis es, qui judicas proximum? Ecce nunc qui dicitis: Hodie, aut crastino ibimus in illam civitatem, et faciemus ibi quidem annum, et mercabimur, et lucrum faciemus: 14 qui ignoratis quid erit in crastino. 15 Quæ est enim vita vestra? vapor est ad modicum parens, et deinceps exterminabitur; pro eo ut dicatis: Si Dominus voluerit. Et: Si vixerimus, faciemus hoc, aut illud. 16 Nunc autem exsultatis in superbiis vestris. Omnis exsultatio talis, maligna est. 17 Scienti igitur bonum facere, et non facienti, peccatum est illi.

[1] Literally, this verse runs, ‘Or do you think that the passage in scripture means nothing when it says, The Spirit which dwells in you (in the Greek, which God has sent to dwell in you) longs after you even to envy?’ The whole phrase cannot be found in the Old Testament; the notion that God is a jealous God frequently occurs, e.g. Ex. 20.5. The Hebrew language does not distinguish between envy and jealousy.

[2] ‘The grace he gives us is something better still’; literally, ‘He gives a greater grace’, perhaps by way of contrast with the earthly subjects of petition mentioned in verse 3 above. The quotation is from Prov. 3.34.

[3] It is difficult to see how this fits into the context, unless we suppose that the whole passage from 4.13 to 5.6 is directed against the rich, who are here accused of neglecting the great opportunities they have for doing good.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd