James 4:7

Bible in Basic English

For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

King James Version (1611)
Submit your selues therefore to God: resist the deuill, and hee will flee from you.

King James Version
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

English Standard Version
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

New American Standard Bible
Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

New Century Version
So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

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

Contemporary English Version
Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you.

Complete Jewish Bible
Therefore, submit to God. Moreover, take a stand against the Adversary, and he will flee from you.

Darby Translation
Subject yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Easy-to-Read Version
So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and he will run away from you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Submit your selues to God: resist the deuill, and he will flee from you.

George Lamsa Translation
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist Satan, and he will flee from you.

Good News Translation
So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you.

Lexham English Bible
Therefore subject yourselves to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Literal Translation
Then be subject to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

Amplified Bible
So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.

American Standard Version
Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Hebrew Names Version
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

International Standard Version
Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.Ephesians 4:27; 6:11; 1 Peter 5:9;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
BE subject, therefore, unto Aloha; withstand Satana, and he will flee from you;

Murdock Translation
Subject yourselves therefore to God; and stand firm against Satan, and he will flee from you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Submit your selues therfore to God: but resist the deuyll, and he wyll flee from you.

English Revised Version
Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

World English Bible
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Submit yourselves, therefore, to God: resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Weymouth's New Testament
Submit therefore to God: resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor be ye suget to God; but withstonde ye the deuel, and he schal fle fro you.

Update Bible Version
Be subject therefore to God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Webster's Bible Translation
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

New English Translation
So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.

New King James Version
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

New Living Translation
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

New Life Bible
So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil and he will run away from you.

New Revised Standard
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Range yourselves, therefore, under God, but withstand the adversary, and he will flee from you:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil: and he will fly from you.

Revised Standard Version
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Submit youre selves to god and resist the devyll and he will flye from you.

Young's Literal Translation
be subject, then, to God; stand up against the devil, and he will flee from you;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Submit youre selues to God, and resist the deuell, & he wil flye fro you.

Mace New Testament (1729)
Surrender therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

THE MESSAGE
So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.

Simplified Cowboy Version
So ride in the way the Boss has told you to. Turn your back on the devil and he will hightail it away from you.

Contextual Overview

¹ What is the cause of wars and fighting among you? is it not in your desires which are at war in your bodies? ² You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it. ³ You make your request but you do not get it, because your request has been wrongly made, desiring the thing only so that you may make use of it for your pleasure. ⁴ O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God. ⁵ Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us? ⁶ But he gives more grace. So that the Writings say, God is against the men of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low before him. ⁷ For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Make your hands clean, you evil-doers; put away deceit from your hearts, you false in mind. ⁹ Be troubled, with sorrow and weeping; let your laughing be turned to sorrow and your joy to grief. ¹⁰ Make yourselves low in the eyes of the Lord and you will be lifted up by him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Submit: 1 Samuel 3:18, 2 Samuel 15:26, 2 Kings 1:13-15, 2 Chronicles 30:8, 2 Chronicles 33:12, 2 Chronicles 33:13, Job 1:21, Job 40:3-5, Job 42:1-6, Psalms 32:3-5, Psalms 66:3, Psalms 68:30, Jeremiah 13:18, Daniel 4:25, Daniel 4:32, Daniel 4:34-37, Matthew 11:29, Acts 9:6, Acts 16:29-31, Acts 26:19, Romans 10:3, Romans 14:11, Ephesians 5:21, Hebrews 12:9, 1 Peter 2:13

Resist: Matthew 4:3-11, Luke 4:2-13, Ephesians 4:27, Ephesians 6:11, Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8, 1 Peter 5:9, Revelation 12:9-11

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 10:16 - stiffnecked 2 Samuel 22:28 - but thine Job 8:5 - thou wouldest Job 9:13 - the proud helpers Job 42:6 - I Psalms 32:9 - Be ye Psalms 99:2 - high Daniel 4:37 - those that walk Matthew 4:10 - Get Luke 4:8 - Get Luke 4:13 - General Luke 23:41 - we indeed Acts 3:19 - be Acts 5:3 - why Hebrews 13:17 - submit James 4:10 - Humble 1 John 5:17 - and

Cross-References

Genesis 3:16
To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master.

Genesis 4:6
And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your face sad?

Genesis 4:8
And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death.

Genesis 4:9
And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I have no idea: am I my brother's keeper?

Genesis 4:10
And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth.

Genesis 4:11
And now you are cursed from the earth, whose mouth is open to take your brother's blood from your hand;

Genesis 4:12
No longer will the earth give you her fruit as the reward of your work; you will be a wanderer in flight over the earth.

Genesis 4:13
And Cain said, My punishment is greater than my strength.

Genesis 19:21
And he said, See, I have given you your request in this one thing more: I will not send destruction on this town.

Numbers 32:23
But if you do not do this, then you are sinners against the Lord; and you may be certain that your sin will have its reward.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ver. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God,.... To the will of God, with respect to worldly things, and be content with such things as are enjoyed, and be satisfied with the portion that is allotted; it is right and best for the people of God to leave themselves with him, to choose their inheritance for them, since by all their anxious cares, their striving and struggling, their impatient desires, wars and fightings, as they cannot add one cubit to their stature, so nothing to their worldly substance; and it becomes them to submit to God in all afflictive dispensations of his providence, and be still and know that he is God; as well as to submit to his way and method of salvation by Christ, and particularly to the righteousness of Christ, for justification; and to depend upon him for supplies of grace in the discharge of every duty, and the exercise of every grace:

resist the devil, [and] he will flee from you; Satan is to be looked upon as an enemy, and to be opposed as such, and to be watched and guarded against; the whole armour of God should be taken and made use of, particularly the weapon of prayer, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and the shield of faith; and also the grace of humility, than which nothing is more opposite to him: he is a proud spirit, and he endeavours to swell men with pride of themselves; and when he has worked them up to such a pitch, he is then master of them, and can manage them as he pleases; but a poor humble believer, with whom God dwells, to whom he gives more grace, and who comes forth not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord God, as David against Goliath, and who owns his vileness and sinfulness, and flies to the grace of God, and blood of Christ, Satan knows not what to do with him, he is puzzled, baffled, and confounded; such he leaves, from such he flees; he does not like the power of prayer, nor the strength of faith, nor the sharpness of the twoedged sword, the word of God, nor the humble believer's staff, bag, scrip, and sling.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Submit yourselves therefore to God - That is, in his arrangements for obtaining his favor. Yield to what he has judged necessary for your welfare in the life that is, and your salvation in the life to come. The duty here enjoined is that of entire acquiescence in the arrangements of God, whether in his providence or grace. All these are for our good, and submission to them is required by the spirit of true humility. The object of the command here, and in the succeeding injunctions to particular duties, is to show them how they might obtain the grace which God is willing to bestow, and how they might overcome the evils against which the apostle had been endeavoring to guard them. The true method of doing this is by submitting ourselves in all things to God.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you - While you yield to God in all things, you are to yield to the devil in none. You are to resist and oppose him in whatever way he may approach you, whether by allurements, by flattering promises, by the fascinations of the world, by temptation, or by threats. See 1 Peter 5:9. Satan makes his way, and secures his triumphs, rather by art, cunning, deception, and threatenings, than by true courage; and when opposed manfully, he flies. The true way of meeting him is by direct resistance, rather than by argument; by steadfastly refusing to yield in the slightest degree, rather than by a belief that we can either convince him that he is wrong, or can return to virtue when we have gone a certain length in complying with his demands. No one is safe who yields in the least to the suggestions of the tempter; there is no one who is not safe if he does not yield. A man, for example, is always safe from intemperance if he resists all allurements to indulgence in strong drink, and never yields in the slightest degree; no one is certainly safe if he drinks even moderately.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 7. Submit - to God — Continue to bow to all his decisions, and to all his dispensations.

Resist the devil — He cannot conquer you if you continue to resist. Strong as he is, God never permits him to conquer the man who continues to resist him; he cannot force the human will. He who, in the terrible name of JESUS, opposes even the devil himself, is sure to have a speedy and glorious conquest. He flees from that name, and from his conquering blood.