1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad: Greetings. |
1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, |
1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. |
1:4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. |
1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and God will give it to him. |
1:6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts resembles the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. |
1:7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, |
1:8 Having become double-minded, showing instability in all his ways. |
1:9 But the brother of humble circumstances should glory in his high position; |
1:10 and the rich man should glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. |
1:11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance perishes; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. |
1:12 God blesses the man who perseveres under trial; for once God approves him, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. |
1:13 Let no one say, when he falls into temptation, "God has tempted me"; for God does not succumb to evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. |
1:14 But each one falls into temptation when his own lust carries himself away and entices him. |
1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has matured, it brings forth death. |
1:16 Do not fall under deception, my beloved brethren. |
1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who demonstrates no variation or shifting shadow. |
1:18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits among His creatures. |
1:19 This you know, my beloved brethren But everyone must quickly hear, slowly speak and have self control regarding anger; |
1:20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. |
1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which can save your souls. |
1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. |
1:23 For if anyone hears the word and does not do the word, he resembles a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; |
1:24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what he previously looked like. |
1:25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will receive blessings in what he does. |
1:26 If anyone considers himself religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion has no worth. |
1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father consists of this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. |