< James 1 >
1 JAMES, a servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus the Messiah; to the twelve tribes dispersed among the Gentiles; greeting peace.
James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: to the twelve tribes who are scattered over the world. All good wishes.
2 Let it be all joy to you, my brethren, when ye enter into many and various trials.
Reckon it nothing but joy, my brethren, whenever you find yourselves hedged in by various trials.
3 For ye know, that the trial of your faith, maketh you possess patience.
Be assured that the testing of your faith leads to power of endurance.
4 And let patience have its perfect work, so that ye may be complete and perfect, and may lack nothing.
Only let endurance have perfect results so that you may become perfect and complete, deficient in nothing.
5 And if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask it of God, who giveth to all freely, and reproacheth not; and it will be given him.
And if any one of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives with open hand to all men, and without upbraiding; and it will be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, not hesitating: he who hesitateth is like the waves of the sea, which the wind agitateth.
But let him ask in faith and have no doubts; for he who has doubts is like the surge of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed into spray.
7 And let not that man expect to receive any thing of the Lord,
A person of that sort must not expect to receive anything from the Lord--
8 who is hesitating in his mind, and unstable in all his ways.
such a one is a man of two minds, undecided in every step he takes.
9 And let the depressed brother rejoice, in his elevation;
Let a brother in humble life rejoice when raised to a higher position;
10 and the rich, in his depression; because, like the flower of an herb, so he passeth away.
but a rich man should rejoice in being brought low, for like flowers among the herbage rich men will pass away.
11 For the sun riseth in its heat, and drieth up the herb; and its flower falleth, and the beauty of its appearance perisheth: so also the rich man withereth in his ways.
The sun rises with his scorching heat and dries up the herbage, so that its flowers drop off and the beauty of its appearance perishes, and in the same way rich men with all their prosperity will fade away.
12 Blessed is the man who endureth temptations; so that when he is proved he may receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.
Blessed is he who patiently endures trials; for when he has stood the test, he will gain the victor's crown--even the crown of Life--which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no one when he is tempted, say, I am tempted of God: for God is not tempted with evils, nor doth he tempt any man.
Let no one say when passing through trial, "My temptation is from God;" for God is incapable of being tempted to do evil, and He Himself tempts no one.
14 But every man is tempted by his own lust; and he lusteth, and is drawn away.
But when a man is tempted, it is his own passions that carry him away and serve as a bait.
15 And this his lust conceiveth, and bringeth forth sin; and sin, when mature, bringeth forth death.
Then the passion conceives, and becomes the parent of sin; and sin, when fully matured, gives birth to death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Do not be deceived, my dearly-loved brethren.
17 Every good and perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no mutation, not even the shadow of change.
Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest suggestion of change.
18 He saw fit, and begat us by the word of truth; that we might be the first-fruits of his creatures.
In accordance with His will He made us His children through the Message of the truth, so that we might, in a sense, be the Firstfruits of the things which He has created.
19 And be ye, my beloved brethren, every one of you, swift to hear, and slow to speak; and slow to wrath:
You know this, my dearly-loved brethren. But let every one be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to be angry.
20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
For a man's anger does not lead to action which God regards as righteous.
21 Wherefore, remove far from you all impurity, and the abundance of wickedness; and, with meekness, receive the word that is implanted in our nature, which is able to vivify these your souls.
Ridding yourselves, therefore, of all that is vile and of the evil influences which prevail around you, welcome in a humble spirit the Message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only; and do not deceive yourselves.
But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves.
23 For if any man shall be a hearer of the word, and not a doer of it, he will be like one who seeth his face in a mirror:
For if any one listens but does not obey, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own face in a mirror.
24 for he seeth himself, and passeth on, and forgetteth what a man he was.
Although he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and has immediately forgotten the sort of man he is.
25 But every one that looketh upon the perfect law of liberty and abideth in it, is not a hearer of something to be forgotten, but a doer of the things; and he will be blessed in his work.
But he who looks closely into the perfect Law--the Law of freedom--and continues looking, he, being not a hearer who forgets, but an obedient doer, will as the result of his obedience be blessed.
26 And if any one thinketh that he worshippeth God, and doth not restrain his tongue, but his heart deceiveth him; his worship is vain.
If a man thinks that he is scrupulously religious, although he is not curbing his tongue but is deceiving himself, his religious service is worthless.
27 For the worship that is pure and holy before God the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and that one keep himself unspotted from the world.
The religious service which is pure and stainless in the sight of our God and Father is to visit fatherless children and widowed women in their time of trouble, and to keep one's own self unspotted from the world.