Bible Strands
James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — James addresses his scattered Jewish brothers, placing this command between a call to mourn (v. 9) and a prohibition on slander (v. 11).
The words — ταπεινῶθητε (tapeinōthēte) is a passive imperative: "be humbled," not "humble yourselves." The exalting that follows is future active (ὑψώσει, hupsōsei), shifting the agent from the reader to God.
The thread — Matthew 23:12 gives the same formula in Jesus' own mouth; 1 Peter 5:6 adds the qualifier "in due time"; Psalms 147:6 pairs the sustaining of the humble with the casting down of the wicked.
Why it lands — The verse asks the reader to stop performing self-exaltation and to accept humility as a commanded posture rather than a feeling, trusting that the raising up belongs to God's timeline.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Cross-references
- Psalms 147:6 The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.
- Matthew 23:12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
- Luke 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- James 4:6 But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Job 22:29 When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.
- Luke 1:52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.
- Psalms 113:7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- 1 Samuel 2:9 He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”