James Chapter 4 verse 14 Holy Bible
whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
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When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone.
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ye who do not know what will be on the morrow, ([for] what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, appearing for a little while, and then disappearing,)
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Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
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read chapter 4 in WBT
Whereas you don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
read chapter 4 in WEB
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;
read chapter 4 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 14 fortifies the rebuke of ver. 13 by showing the folly of their action; cf. Proverbs 27:1, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow (τὰ εἰς αὔριον), for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Whereas ye know not; rather, seeing that, or, inasmuch as ye know not, etc. (οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε). The text in this verse again in a somewhat disorganized condition, but the general drift is clear. We should probably read, Οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε τὸ τῆς αὔριον ποίαἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν ἀτμὶς γὰρ ἐστε ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον φαινομένη ἔπειτα καὶ ἀφανιζομένη, R.V., "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, our that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away."
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14) Whereas ye know not . . . .--Read, Whereas ye know not aught of the morrow--what, i.e., the event may be. The hopeless misery of the unfaithful servant comes into mind at this; he has left the greater business to perform the less; or, it may be, said in heart, "My lord delayeth his coming," and so has begun "to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken." And lo! the thunder of the chariot wheels, the flash of the avenging sword, the "portion with the hypocrites," the "weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Read Matthew 24:42-51.)For what is your life? It is even a vapour.--The rebuke is stronger still, the home-thrust more sharp and piercing--Ye are even a vapour: ye yourselves, and all belonging to you; not merely life itself, for that confessedly is a breath; and many a man, acknowledging so much, counts of the morrow that he may lay up in store for other wants besides his own.A vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (or, disappeareth).--There is a play upon words to mark the sad antithesis. The vision of life vanisheth as it came; and thus even a heathen poet says--"Dust we are, and a shadow."(Comp. Wisdom Of Solomon 5:9-14.)
