James 1
1 JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, greets the twelve tribes that are living abroad.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
My friends, whatever trials you may face from time to time, always regard them as a reason for rejoicing,
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
knowing, as you do, that the testing of your faith develops endurance.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
And let endurance do its work perfectly, so that you may be altogether perfect, and in no respect lacking.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
If any one of you lacks wisdom, they should ask wisdom from the God who gives freely to everyone without reproach, and it will be given to them.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
But they should ask with confidence, never doubting; for the person who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven here and there at the mercy of the wind –
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Such a person must not expect that they will receive anything from the Lord,
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
vacillating as they are, irresolute at every turn.
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
Let a follower in humble circumstances be proud of their exalted position,
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
but a rich follower of their humiliation; for the rich will pass away like a wild flower.
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
As the sun rises, and the hot wind blows, the plant withers, its flower fades, and all its beauty is gone. So is it with the rich. In the midst of their pursuits they will wither away.
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Blessed is the person who remains firm under temptation, for, when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Let no one say, when they are tempted, “It is God who is tempting me!” For God, who cannot be tempted to do wrong, does not himself tempt anyone.
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
A man is in every case tempted by their own passions – allured and enticed by them.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Then passion conceives and gives birth to sin, and sin, on reaching maturity, brings forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Do not be deceived, my dear friends.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Every good thing given us, and every perfect gift, is from above, and comes down to us from the Father of the lights in the heavens, who is himself never subject to change or to eclipse.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Because he so willed, he gave us life, through the message of the truth, so that we should be, as it were, a kind of first fruits of his creation.
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Mark this, my dear friends – Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry;
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
for human anger does not forward the righteous purpose of God.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Therefore, get rid of all filthiness and whatever wickedness still remains, and in a humble spirit receive that message which has been planted in your hearts and is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Put that message into practice, and do not merely listen to it – deceiving yourselves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For, when anyone listens to it and does not practice it, they are like a person looking at their own face in a mirror.
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
They look at themselves, then go on their way,
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not 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, the Law of freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice – that person will be blessed in what they do.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
When a person appears to be religious, yet does not bridle their tongue, but imposes on their own conscience, that person’s religious observances are valueless.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
That religious observance which is pure and spotless in the eyes of God our Father is this – to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the world.
