1 W hence wars and fightings among you? not thence -- out of your passions, that are as soldiers in your members?

What starts wars and fights among you? Is it not because you want many things and are fighting to have them?

2 y e desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking;

You want something you do not have, so you kill. You want something but cannot get it, so you fight for it. You do not get things because you do not ask for them.

3 y e ask, and ye receive not, because evilly ye ask, that in your pleasures ye may spend.

Or if you do ask, you do not receive because your reasons for asking are wrong. You want these things only to please yourselves.

4 A dulterers and adulteresses! have ye not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? whoever, then, may counsel to be a friend of the world, an enemy of God he is set.

You are as wives and husbands who are not faithful in marriage and do sex sins. Do you not know that to love the sinful things of the world and to be a friend to them is to be against God? Yes, I say it again, if you are a friend of the world, you are against God.

5 D o ye think that emptily the Writing saith, `To envy earnestly desireth the spirit that did dwell in us,'

Do you think the Holy Writings mean nothing when they said, “The Holy Spirit Whom God has given to live in us has a strong desire for us to be faithful to Him”?

6 a nd greater grace he doth give, wherefore he saith, `God against proud ones doth set Himself up, and to lowly ones He doth give grace?'

But He gives us more loving-favor. For the Holy Writings say, “God works against the proud but gives loving-favor to those who have no pride.”

7 b e subject, then, to God; stand up against the devil, and he will flee from you;

So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil and he will run away from you.

8 d raw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you; cleanse hands, ye sinners! and purify hearts, ye two-souled!

Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Clean up your hearts, you who want to follow the sinful ways of the world and God at the same time.

9 b e exceeding afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter to mourning be turned, and the joy to heaviness;

Be sorry for your sins and cry because of them. Be sad and do not laugh. Let your joy be turned to sorrow.

10 b e made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you.

Let yourself be brought low before the Lord. Then He will lift you up and help you. Do Not Talk Against Each Other

11 S peak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;

Christian brothers, do not talk against anyone or speak bad things about each other. If a person says bad things about his brother, he is speaking against him. And he will be speaking against God’s Law. If you say the Law is wrong, and do not obey it, you are saying you are better than the Law.

12 o ne is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; thou -- who art thou that dost judge the other?

Only God can say what is right or wrong. He made the Law. He can save or put to death. How can we say if our brother is right or wrong?

13 G o, now, ye who are saying, `To-day and to-morrow we will go on to such a city, and will pass there one year, and traffic, and make gain;'

Listen! You who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city and stay a year and make money.”

14 w ho do not know the thing of the morrow; for what is your life? for it is a vapour that is appearing for a little, and then is vanishing;

You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? It is like fog. You see it and soon it is gone.

15 i nstead of your saying, `If the Lord may will, we shall live, and do this or that;'

What you should say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

16 a nd now ye glory in your pride; all such glorying is evil;

But instead you are proud. You talk loud and big about yourselves. All such pride is sin.

17 t o him, then, knowing to do good, and not doing, sin it is to him.

If you know what is right to do but you do not do it, you sin.