A Warning against Pride

¹What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?

²You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.

³And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

⁴You adulteresses!Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himselfan enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the SpiritHe caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

⁶But He gives us more grace. This is why it says:“God opposes the proud,but gives grace to the humble.”

Drawing Near to God

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

¹¹Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.

¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Do Not Boast about Tomorrow

¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

¹⁴You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

¹⁶As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

The Man of Lawlessness

¹Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers,

²not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.

³Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.

⁴He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

⁵Do you not remember that I told you these things while I was still with you?

⁶And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way.

⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.

⁹The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,

¹⁰and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

¹¹For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie,

¹²in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

Stand Firm

¹³But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginningto be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.

¹⁴To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.

¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,

¹⁷encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.

Heirs of Grace

¹Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,

²to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

⁵He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birthand renewal by the Holy Spirit.

⁶This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

⁷so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

⁸This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

Avoid Divisions

⁹But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.

¹⁰Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition,

¹¹knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Remarks and Greetings

¹²As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.

¹³Do your best to equip Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they will have everything they need.

¹⁴And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet the pressing needs of others, so that they will not be unfruitful.

¹⁵All who are with me send you greetings.Greet those who love us in the faith.Grace be with all of you.

It Is Good to Sing Praises

¹Hallelujah!How good it is to sing praises to our God,how pleasant and lovely to praise Him!

²The LORD builds up Jerusalem;He gathers the exiles of Israel.

³He heals the brokenheartedand binds up their wounds.

⁴He determines the number of the stars;He calls them each by name.

⁵Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;His understanding has no limit.

⁶The LORD sustains the humble,but casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;make music on the harp to our God,

⁸who covers the sky with clouds,who prepares rain for the earth,who makes grass to grow on the hills.

⁹He provides food for the animals,and for the young ravens when they call.

¹⁰He does not delight in the strength of the horse;He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him,who hope in His loving devotion.

¹²Exalt the LORD, O Jerusalem;praise your God, O Zion!

¹³For He strengthens the bars of your gatesand blesses the children within you.

¹⁴He makes peace at your borders;He fills you with the finest wheat.

¹⁵He sends forth His command to the earth;His word runs swiftly.

¹⁶He spreads the snow like wool;He scatters the frost like ashes;

¹⁷He casts forth His hail like pebbles.Who can withstand His icy blast?

¹⁸He sends forth His word and melts them;He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow.

¹⁹He declares His word to Jacob,His statutes and judgments to Israel.

²⁰He has done this for no other nation;they do not know His judgments.Hallelujah!