James 4:1-12

New International Version

Submit Yourselves to God

4 What causes fights and quarrels^(A) among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle^(B) within you? ²You desire but do not have, so you kill.^(C) You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive,^(D) because you ask with wrong motives,^(E) that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴You adulterous^(F) people,^[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world^(G) means enmity against God?^(H) Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.^(I) ⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us^[b]?^(J) ⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”^[c]^(K)

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,^(L) and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you.^(M) Wash your hands,^(N) you sinners, and purify your hearts,^(O) you double-minded.^(P) ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.^(Q) ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.^(R)

¹¹Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.^(S) Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister^[d] or judges them^(T) speaks against the law^(U) and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it,^(V) but sitting in judgment on it. ¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge,^(W) the one who is able to save and destroy.^(X) But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?^(Y)

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Footnotes

James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.

Mark 9:30-37

New International Version

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time^(A)

³⁰They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, ³¹because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man^(B) is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him,^(C) and after three days^(D) he will rise.”^(E) ³²But they did not understand what he meant^(F) and were afraid to ask him about it.

³³They came to Capernaum.^(G) When he was in the house,^(H) he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” ³⁴But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.^(I)

³⁵Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”^(J)

³⁶He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms,^(K) he said to them, ³⁷“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”^(L)

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