James 1
1 James the servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion: Greetings!
2 My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations;
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you experience various troubles.
3 Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
You know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
Let endurance complete its work, so that you may become fully developed and complete, not lacking anything.
5 But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But if any of you needs wisdom, let him ask for it from God, the one who gives generously and without rebuke to all who ask, and he will give it to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind.
But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing. For anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven by the wind and tossed around.
7 Therefore let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
For that person must not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8 A double minded man is inconstant in all his ways.
Such a person is double-minded, unstable in all his ways.
9 But let the brother of low condition glory in his exaltation:
Let the poor brother boast of his high position,
10 And the rich, in his being low; because as the flower of the grass shall he pass away.
but the rich man of his low position, because he will pass away as a wild flower in the grass.
11 For the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
For the sun rises with burning heat and dries up the grass. The flower falls off, and its beauty perishes. In the same way, the rich man will fade away in the middle of his journey.
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.
Blessed is the man who endures testing. For after he has passed the test, he will receive the crown of life, which has been promised to those who love God.
13 Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempteth no man.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” because God is not tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone.
14 But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.
But each person is tempted by his own desire, which drags him away and entices him.
15 Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death.
Then after the desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and after the sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
16 Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. It comes down from the Father of lights. With him there is no changing or shadow because of turning.
18 For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creatures.
God chose to give us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all the things that he created.
19 You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger.
You know this, my beloved brothers: Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
20 For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God.
For the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Therefore take off all sinful filth and abundant amounts of evil. In humility receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Be doers of the word and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word but not a doer, he is like a man who examines his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was.
He examines himself and then goes away and immediately forgets what he was like.
25 But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed.
But the person who looks carefully into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so, not just being a hearer who forgets, this man will be blessed in his actions.
26 And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
If anyone thinks himself to be religious, but if he does not control his tongue, he deceives his heart, and his religion is worthless.
27 Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.
Religion that is pure and unspoiled before our God and Father is to help the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
