bwe - James:3-5

bwe@James:3:1 @ My brothers, not many of you should be teachers. You know that we who teach will be punished more than other people.

bwe@James:3:2 @ We all do many wrong things. Any man who never says anything wrong is right in every way. He is able to make his whole body do what is right.

bwe@James:3:3 @ We put a piece of iron in the mouths of horses so they will obey us. Then we can make their whole bodies go where we want them to go.

bwe@James:3:4 @ Look at the big boats also. They are very big. The strong winds push them along. But a man uses a small piece of wood and makes the boat go where he wants it to go.

bwe@James:3:5 @ A persons tongue is like that. It is a small part of the body but it talks about big things. A very small fire can burn a big pile of wood!

bwe@James:3:6 @ The tongue is like a fire. It is like a whole world of trouble. It is a part of our body. And it makes our whole body bad. It burns up our whole life. And the fire that makes the tongue burn comes from hell.

bwe@James:3:7 @ People have been able to tame all kinds of animals, birds, snakes, and fish.

bwe@James:3:8 @ But no one can tame the tongue. It is a bad thing that will not be ruled. It is full of poison that can kill.

bwe@James:3:9 @ We praise our Lord and Father with our tongues. And we speak wrong words about people with our tongues, even though they were made like God.

bwe@James:3:10 @ Praising and wrong words come out of the same mouth! My brothers, this should not be so.

bwe@James:3:11 @ Do good water and bad water both come from the same place?

bwe@James:3:12 @ My brothers, do olives come from a fig tree? Or do figs come from a vine? No, they do not! Salt water and fresh water do not both come from the same place.

bwe@James:3:13 @ Who among you is wise and knows about things? He should show what he knows by his good life. He will not be proud because he is wise.

bwe@James:3:14 @ Are you a person who is very jealous? In your hearts you want to be better than others? Then stop being proud of yourself. Do not say what is not true.

bwe@James:3:15 @ God did not give you wisdom like that. But it comes from this world. It comes from people. It comes from bad spirits.

bwe@James:3:16 @ If people are jealous of others, their lives are not right. They do every kind of wrong thing to get what they want. They confuse and upset people.

bwe@James:3:17 @ First of all, when God makes people wise, they are holy. They do not fight. They are gentle. They listen to what other people say. They are very kind and do many good things. They do not quarrel. They do not say what is not true.

bwe@James:3:18 @ People who do not quarrel have peace. When there is peace, there is a good life.

bwe@James:4:1 @ Why do you fight and quarrel? It is because your feelings are fighting inside of you. That is why you fight.

bwe@James:4:2 @ You want something but you cannot get it. Then you kill. You want something very much and cannot get it. So you quarrel and fight. You do not get it because you do not ask God for it.

bwe@James:4:3 @ You ask for it, but you do not get it, because you ask in a wrong way. You want to use it for yourselves and not for others.

bwe@James:4:4 @ You people promised God you would be true to him, but you did not stay true! Do you not know that if you love the world you hate God? Anyone who wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

bwe@James:4:5 @ The holy writings say, God gave his Spirit to live in us. And that Spirit wants us for himself. Do you think this means nothing?

bwe@James:4:6 @ But God helps you even more than that. That is why the holy writings say, God fights against those who are proud, but he helps those who are not proud.

bwe@James:4:7 @ So let God control you. Fight the devil and he will run away from you.

bwe@James:4:8 @ Come to God and he will come to you. You bad people, make your hands clean! You love what is good and what is wrong at the same time. Make your hearts clean.

bwe@James:4:9 @ Be sad about this, and cry. Turn your laughing into crying. Stop being happy. Be sad.

bwe@James:4:10 @ Do not be proud before the Lord. Then he will lift you up.

bwe@James:4:11 @ My brothers, do not say wrong things about each other. A man who says wrong things about his brother or judges his brother is saying wrong things about Gods law and he is judging Gods law. If you judge the law, you are not obeying the law, but you are a judge.

bwe@James:4:12 @ God made the law and he is the judge. And he is the one who can save you or kill you. Who are you that you should judge your neighbour?

bwe@James:4:13 @ Listen to me! You say, Today or tomorrow we will go to that town. We will stay there a year. We will buy and sell and get rich. But you do not know what will happen to you tomorrow.

bwe@James:4:14 @ What is your life like? It is like a cloud. It is here for a little while and then it is gone.

bwe@James:4:15 @ You should say If the Lord wants to do it, we will live and do this or that.

bwe@James:4:16 @ But now you talk about the big things you will do. All that kind of talk is wrong!

bwe@James:4:17 @ But if a person knows what he should do and he does not do it, he has done something wrong.

bwe@James:5:1 @ Rich people, listen to me! Cry loud and long because of the troubles you will have.

bwe@James:5:2 @ Your things are spoiled. Bugs have eaten your clothes.

bwe@James:5:3 @ Your gold and silver are all spoiled. The wrong in them will prove that you have done wrong. The wrong will burn you up like fire. You have kept all these things and now time is almost ended.

bwe@James:5:4 @ Listen! Men worked in your fields to cut your grain and you did not pay them! That money shouts against you. The men who cut your harvest have called out to the Lord who has power and he has heard them.

bwe@James:5:5 @ You have had a good time on earth. You have done anything you wanted to do. Your lives are full of everything. Like a fat animal, you will soon be killed.

bwe@James:5:6 @ You have punished good people. You have killed them. And they do not stop you.

bwe@James:5:7 @ So brothers, take your troubles quietly and wait until the Lord comes. A farmer waits until the harvest grows from the ground. He waits for it a long time until it has had the first and second rain.

bwe@James:5:8 @ You must wait also. Keep your hearts strong, because the Lord will come soon.

bwe@James:5:9 @ Brothers, do not say mean things to each other. If you do, you will be judged. Listen, the judge is standing at the door now.

bwe@James:5:10 @ My brothers, look at the lives of the prophets of God who spoke in the name of the Lord. See the troubles they had. They took them and waited. Do as they did.

bwe@James:5:11 @ God blesses those who take their troubles quietly and keep on believing. You have heard about Jobs troubles and how he took them. And you have seen what the Lord did for him at the end. The Lord is very kind and helps people.

bwe@James:5:12 @ My brothers, here is something that matters very much. When you make a promise do not ask heaven to hear it, or the earth, or any other thing. When you mean Yes, just say, Yes. And when you mean No, just say, No. If you do that, you will not be judged.

bwe@James:5:13 @ Is any one of you in trouble? He should talk to God about it. Is any one of you happy? He should sing songs of praise to God.

bwe@James:5:14 @ Is any one of you sick? He should call for the leaders of the church people. They should talk to God about him and put oil on him in the name of the Lord.

bwe@James:5:15 @ Because they talk to God, and believe, he will hear them. The sick man will be healed. The Lord will make him well again. If the sick man has done wrong things, the Lord will forgive him.

bwe@James:5:16 @ So tell one another the wrong things you have done. And tell God about each others needs, so that you will be healed. When a good man talks to God, big things can be done.

bwe@James:5:17 @ Elijah was a man like us. He asked God not to let it rain. And for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

bwe@James:5:18 @ Then he talked to God again. And it rained. Plants grew on the earth.

bwe@James:5:19 @ My brothers, has one of you left the right way? Has another person brought him back again?

bwe@James:5:20 @ Do not forget that the person who has brought a man back from his wrong ways will save that man from death. He will cover up many wrong things and be forgiven.

bwe@Jude:1:1 @ I am Jude. I am a servant of Jesus Christ and I am a brother of James. I send greetings to you whom God the Father has called. He has loved you and kept you safe for Jesus Christ.