1 | James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greeting. |
2 | Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, |
3 | for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. |
4 | And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. |
5 | If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. |
6 | But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7, |
7 | For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, |
8 | unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord. |
9 | Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, |
10 | and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. |
11 | For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. |
12 | Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. |
13 | Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one; |
14 | but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. |
15 | Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death. |
16 | Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. |
17 | Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. |
18 | Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. |
19 | Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, |
20 | for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. |
21 | Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. |
22 | But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. |
23 | For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; |
24 | for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. |
25 | But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing. |
26 | If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain. |
27 | Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. |