Iacobi 1
1 Jacobus, Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi servus, duodecim tribubus, quæ sunt in dispersione, salutem.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2 Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
3 scientes quod probatio fidei vestræ patientiam operatur.
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 Postulet autem in fide nihil hæsitans: qui enim hæsitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur:
But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
7 non ergo æstimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
For that man should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8 Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis.
He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua:
Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
10 dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos fœni transibit;
and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
11 exortus est enim sol cum ardore, et arefecit fœnum, et flos ejus decidit, et decor vultus ejus deperiit: ita et dives in itineribus suis marcescet.
For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
12 Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se.
Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him.
13 Nemo cum tentatur, dicat quoniam a Deo tentatur: Deus enim intentator malorum est: ipse autem neminem tentat.
Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
15 Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem.
Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
16 Nolite itaque errare, fratres mei dilectissimi.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow.
18 Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturæ ejus.
Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19 Scitis, fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum: tardus autem ad loquendum, et tardus ad iram.
So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
20 Ira enim viri justitiam Dei non operatur.
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Propter quod abjicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiæ, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos.
But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
23 Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor, hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suæ in speculo:
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;
24 consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit.
for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 Qui autem perspexerit in legem perfectam libertatis, et permanserit in ea, non auditor obliviosus factus, sed factor operis: hic beatus in facto suo erit.
But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
26 Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, hujus vana est religio.
If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
27 Religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et Patrem, hæc est: visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc sæculo.
Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
