James 4:13 (YLT)

Passage

Go, now, ye who are saying, `To-day and to-morrow we will go on to such a city, and will pass there one year, and traffic, and make gain;'

Nearby Context

James 4:11 Speak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;

James 4:12 one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; thou--who art thou that dost judge the other?

James 4:13 Go, now, ye who are saying, `To-day and to-morrow we will go on to such a city, and will pass there one year, and traffic, and make gain;'

James 4:14 who do not know the thing of the morrow; for what is your life? for it is a vapour that is appearing for a little, and then is vanishing;

James 4:15 instead of your saying, `If the Lord may will, we shall live, and do this or that;'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "saying", "to-day", "to-morrow", "such", "city", "pass", "year", and "traffic". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "saying" and "to-day", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "one is the lawgiver who is able..." into verse 14's "who do not know the thing of...", so "saying" and "to-day" belong inside that flow. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "saying" and "to-day" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.