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Saying Cruel Things about Others

11 My friends, don't say cruel things about others! If you do, or if you condemn others, you are condemning God's Law. And if you condemn the Law, you put yourself above the Law and refuse to obey either it 12 or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?

Warning against Bragging

13 (A)(B) You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!”

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11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.(A) Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[a] or judges them(B) speaks against the law(C) and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it,(D) but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge,(E) the one who is able to save and destroy.(F) But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?(G)

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Now listen,(H) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 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.