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General Information:
The word "you" here is plural and refers to the scattered believers to whom James writes. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-you)
Come close to God
Here the idea of coming close stands for becoming honest and open with God. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded
These are two phrases in parallel with each other. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)
Cleanse your hands
This expression is a command for people to do righteous acts instead of unrighteous acts. AT: "Behave in a way that honors God" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy)
purify your hearts
Here "hearts" refers to a person's thoughts and emotions. AT: "honor God with your thoughts" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
double-minded
The word "double-minded" refers to a person who cannot make a firm decision about something. AT: "double-minded people" or "people who cannot decide if you want to obey God or not" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
Grieve, mourn, and cry
These three words have similar meanings. James uses them together to emphasize that the people should be truly sorry for not obeying God. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-doublet and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-exclamations)
Let your laughter turn into sadness and your joy into gloom
This is saying the same thing in different ways for emphasis. The abstract nouns "laughter," "sadness," "joy," and "gloom" can be translated as verbs or adjectives. AT: "Stop laughing and be sad. Stop being joyful and be gloomy" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-abstractnouns)
Humble yourselves before the Lord
"Be humble toward God." Actions done with God in mind are often spoken of as being done in his physical presence. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
he will lift you up
James indicates that God will honor the humble person by saying God will pick that person up off the ground physically from where that person had prostrated himself in humility. AT: "he will honor you" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)