Themes in James's letter:
1. God is the source of all wisdom
2. Testing and trials
3. Wealth and oppression
4. Material things will not last
5. The unjust rich
6. Everything belongs to God
7. Favoritism
8. Godly speech
9. Faith and good deeds
10. The Law
The Wisdom from Above
3:13 Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.
3:13 Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.
Proud or Humble
4:1 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you?[Or war in your members] 2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war.[Or You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war.] You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people![Lit Adulteresses] Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. 5 Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely?[Or Scripture says: He jealously yearns for the spirit he made to live in us?, or Scripture says: The Spirit he made to dwell in us longs jealously?]
6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says:
God resists the proud
but gives grace to the humble.[Pr 3:34]
7 Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer[Or his brother or sister] defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver and judge[Other mss omit and judge] who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
CSB
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