James 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, greets the twelve tribes that are living abroad.
James, a bondman of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion, greeting.
2 My friends, whatever trials you may face from time to time, always regard them as a reason for rejoicing,
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when ye encounter various trials,
3 knowing, as you do, that the testing of your faith develops endurance.
knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 And let endurance do its work perfectly, so that you may be altogether perfect, and in no respect lacking.
And let perseverance have a perfect work, so that ye may be perfect and complete, falling short in nothing.
5 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.
And if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God who gives to all generously and not reproaching, and it will be given to him.
6 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 –
But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by wind and tossed about.
7 Such a person must not expect that they will receive anything from the Lord,
For that man should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 vacillating as they are, irresolute at every turn.
a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let a follower in humble circumstances be proud of their exalted position,
Now let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
10 but a rich follower of their humiliation; for the rich will pass away like a wild flower.
but the rich in his lowliness, because as a flower of grass he will pass away.
11 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.
For the sun rose up with the burning heat, and withered the grass. And the flower of it fell, and the beauty of its appearance perished. So also the rich man will fade away among his pursuits.
12 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.
Blessed is a man who endures temptation, because, having become approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
13 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.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God is without temptation of evils, and he himself tempts no man.
14 A man is in every case tempted by their own passions – allured and enticed by them.
But each man is tempted by his own lust, being drawn away and enticed.
15 Then passion conceives and gives birth to sin, and sin, on reaching maturity, brings forth death.
Then the lust having conceived, it gives birth to sin, and after being complete the sin brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my dear friends.
Be not led astray, my beloved brothers.
17 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.
Every good gift and every perfect endowment is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning.
18 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.
Having deliberated, he begot us by the word of truth for us to be a certain first fruit of his creatures.
19 Mark this, my dear friends – Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry;
Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
20 for human anger does not forward the righteous purpose of God.
For the wrath of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.
21 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.
Therefore having put off all filthiness and profusion of evil, receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Put that message into practice, and do not merely listen to it – deceiving yourselves.
But become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For, when anyone listens to it and does not practice it, they are like a person looking at their own face in a mirror.
Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this resembles a man observing his natural face in a mirror.
24 They look at themselves, then go on their way,
For he observes himself, and goes away, and straightaway forgets what kind of man he was.
25 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.
But he who stooped to look into the perfect law, the one of liberty, and who remained, this man, who did not become a forgetful hearer but a doer of work, this man will be blessed in his doing.
26 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.
If any man among you seems to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his heart, this man's religion is futile.
27 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.
Pure religion and undefiled from God and the Father is this, to go help the orphaned and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
