James 4:13–15
James says no one knows what tomorrow will bring
Study it word by word13Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit,
14you who do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15Instead of your saying, If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.
In its context
11Do not speak against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12There is one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
…
16But now you boast in your arrogant claims. All such boasting is evil.
17So for the one who knows how to do good and does not do it, for him it is sin.
Its words in the original
- ἌγεAge· lead, bring
Lead, bring, take along.
- λέγοντεςlegontes· say
Say, speak; in the passive, "be called".
- ΣήμερονSēmeron· today
Today.
- αὔριονaurion· tomorrow
Tomorrow, the next day.
- πορευσόμεθαporeusometha· go
Go, set out; also live, walk in a way of life.
- τήνδεtēnde· this
This; "such and such", "this here".
- πόλινpolin· city, town
City, town.
- ποιήσομενpoiēsomen· do, make
Do, make, produce.
- ἐνιαυτὸνeniauton· year
Year.
- ἐμπορευσόμεθαemporeusometha· trade, exploit
Trade, do business; also exploit someone for gain.
- κερδήσομενkerdēsomen· gain
Gain, win.
- ἐπίστασθεepistasthe· understand
Understand, know.
- ποίαpoia· what kind of?
Which? what kind of?
- ζωὴzōē· life
Life; the true life that God gives.
- ἀτμὶςatmis· vapor
Vapor, mist, a cloud of smoke.
- ἐστεeste· be
Be, exist.
- ὀλίγονoligon· little, few
Little, small; in the plural, few.
- φαινομένηphainomenē· shine, appear
Appear, become visible; shine.
- ἔπειταepeita· then, afterward
Then, afterward.
- ἀφανιζομένηaphanizomenē· destroy, disfigure
Make disappear, destroy; disfigure; in the passive, vanish.
- ἀντὶanti· in place of, for
Instead of, in exchange for.
- κύριοςkyrios· Lord, lord
Lord, master, owner. Said of God, the Lord; in Old Testament quotations it stands for the name YHWH.
- θελήσῃthelēsēi· want, wish
Want, wish, be willing.
- ζήσομενzēsomen· live
Live, be alive.