James 4:8-11

4:8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. ¹  4:9 Grieve, mourn, ²  and weep. Turn your laughter ³  into mourning and your joy into despair. 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

4:11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. ⁴  He who speaks against a fellow believer ⁵  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. ⁶ 

[4:8]  ¹ tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).

[4:9]  ² tn This term and the following one are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.

[4:9]  ³ tn Grk “let your laughter be turned.”

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

[4:11]  ⁵ tn See note on the word “believer” in 1:9.

[4:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “a judge.”