1:1 | James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. |
1:2 | My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, |
1:3 | knowing this, that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. |
1:4 | But let perseverance have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. |
1:5 | If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all people liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. |
1:6 | But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, because, he who wavers is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. |
1:7 | Because, do not let that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord; |
1:8 | a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. |
1:9 | Let the lowly brother rejoice in his exaltation, |
1:10 | but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. |
1:11 | Because, no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man likewise will fade away in his ways. |
1:12 | Blessed is the man who endures temptation; because, when he has been approved, 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 is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; because, God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. |
1:14 | But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. |
1:15 | Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. |
1:16 | Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. |
1:17 | Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. |
1:18 | Of His own will He begot us by the word of truth, that we might be a type of firstfruits of His creatures. |
1:19 | So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; |
1:20 | because, the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. |
1:21 | Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. |
1:22 | But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. |
1:23 | because, if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; |
1:24 | because, he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. |
1:25 | But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. |
1:26 | If anyone among you seems to be religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is vain. |
1:27 | Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. |