James 4:11-17

4:11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. ¹  He who speaks against a fellow believer ²  or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. ³  4:12 But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor? ⁴ 

4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town ⁵  and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 4:14 You ⁶  do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? ⁷  For you are a puff of smoke ⁸  that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 4:15 You ought to say instead, ⁹  “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” 4:16 But as it is, ¹⁰  you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 4:17 So whoever knows what is good to do ¹¹  and does not do it is guilty of sin. ¹² 

[4:11]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:11]  ² tn See note on the word “believer” in 1:9.

[4:11]  ³ tn Grk “a judge.”

[4:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “who judges your neighbor.”

[4:13]  ⁷ tn Or “city.”

[4:14]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”

[4:14]  ¹² tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).

[4:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “instead of your saying.”

[4:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “but now.”

[4:17]  ¹⁹ tn Or “knows how to do what is good.”

[4:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “to him it is sin.”