James 4:5

Verse 5 Do you think the Scripture saith in vain?

Now, suppose James calls special attention to these Scriptures, "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity" (Psalms 5:4-5); and this, "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalms 7:11); and this, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalms 9:17); and this, "And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible" (Isaiah 13:11), and then ask, Do these Scriptures speak falsely?

The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

In the Common Version this is a part of the former paragraph, and with it forms one sentence. In the Revised Version, as you can see, it is made a separate sentence, and yields the sense more readily and clearly. It reads: "Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?" This is in the form of an interrogation, and the answer must be that God never intended the spirit which he made to so long. Then, although with you, brethren, the spirit does so lust or long, it is wrong. That this is the sense intended, is confirmed by what follows.