“But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.”
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth — the conditional construction indicts those who harbor 'bitter envy' (pikra zēlos, sharp jealousy) and 'selfish ambition' (eritheia, literally party-spirit or factious zeal), revealing that these vices dwell in the heart (kardia) before they emerge in speech. The command not to 'boast about it' (kauchaomai) nor to 'deny the truth against it' (pseudesthai) suggests that such people lie about their condition, deceiving themselves and others. The passage exposes the disconnect between inner corruption and outward profession.
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