Iacobi 1
1 Iacobus Dei, et Domini nostri Iesu Christi servus, duodecim tribubus, quæ sunt in dispersione, salutem.
JAMES, a servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus the Messiah; to the twelve tribes dispersed among the Gentiles; greeting peace.
2 Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis:
Let it be all joy to you, my brethren, when ye enter into many and various trials.
3 scientes quod probatio fidei vestræ patientiam operatur.
For ye know, that the trial of your faith, maketh you possess patience.
4 Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
And let patience have its perfect work, so that ye may be complete and perfect, and may lack nothing.
5 Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei.
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.
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, not hesitating: he who hesitateth is like the waves of the sea, which the wind agitateth.
7 Non ergo æstimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
And let not that man expect to receive any thing of the Lord,
8 Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis.
who is hesitating in his mind, and unstable in all his ways.
9 Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua:
And let the depressed brother rejoice, in his elevation;
10 dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos fœni transibit:
and the rich, in his depression; because, like the flower of an herb, so he passeth away.
11 exortus est enim sol cum ardore, et arefecit fœnum, et flos eius decidit, et decor vultus eius deperiit: ita et dives in itineribus suis marcescet.
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.
12 Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se.
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.
13 Nemo cum tentatur, dicat quoniam a Deo tentatur: Deus enim intentator malorum est: ipse autem neminem tentat.
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.
14 Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus.
But every man is tempted by his own lust; and he lusteth, and is drawn away.
15 Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem.
And this his lust conceiveth, and bringeth forth sin; and sin, when mature, bringeth forth death.
16 Nolite itaque errare fratres mei dilectissimi.
Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio.
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.
18 Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturæ eius.
He saw fit, and begat us by the word of truth; that we might be the 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.
And be ye, my beloved brethren, every one of you, swift to hear, and slow to speak; and slow to wrath:
20 Ira enim viri, iustitiam Dei non operatur.
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Propter quod abiicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiæ, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
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.
22 Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only; and do not deceive yourselves.
23 Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor: hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suæ in speculo:
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:
24 consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit.
for he seeth himself, and passeth on, and forgetteth what a 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 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.
26 Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, huius vana est religio.
And if any one thinketh that he worshippeth God, and doth not restrain his tongue, but his heart deceiveth him; his worship is vain.
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.
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.
