001:001 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
001:002 Count it all joy, my brothers{The word for "brothers"
here and where context allows may also be correctly translated
"brothers and sisters" or "siblings."}, when you fall
into various temptations,
001:003 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
001:004 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing.
001:005 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.
001:006 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.
001:007 For let that man not think that he will receive anything
from the Lord.
001:008 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
001:009 But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in
his high position;
001:010 and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower
in the grass, he will pass away.
001:011 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 also will the rich man fade away
in his pursuits.
001:012 Blessed is the man 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.
001:013 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God,"
for God can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
001:014 But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his
own lust, and enticed.
001:015 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin,
when it is full grown, brings forth death.
001:016 Don't be deceived, my beloved brothers.
001:017 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.
001:018 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
001:019 So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, and slow to anger;
001:020 for the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God.
001:021 Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing
of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word,
which is able to save your souls{or, preserve your life.}.
001:022 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding
your own selves.
001:023 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;
001:024 for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets
what kind of man he was.
001:025 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.
001:026 If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while
he doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart,
this man's religion is worthless.
001:027 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.
002:001 My brothers, don't hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ
of glory with partiality.
002:002 For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into
your synagogue{or, meeting}, and a poor man in filthy clothing
also comes in;
002:003 and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing,
and say, "Sit here in a good place;" and you tell the poor man,
"Stand there," or "Sit by my footstool;"
002:004 haven't you shown partiality among yourselves, and become
judges with evil thoughts?
002:005 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn't God choose those who are poor
in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom
which he promised to those who love him?
002:006 But you have dishonored the poor man. Don't the rich oppress you,
and personally drag you before the courts?
002:007 Don't they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
002:008 However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to
the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself,"{Leviticus
19:18} you do well.
002:009 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted
by the law as transgressors.
002:010 For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point,
he has become guilty of all.
002:011 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery,"{Exodus 20:14;
Deuteronomy 5:18} also said, "Do not commit murder."{Exodus 10:13;
Deuteronomy 5:17} Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder,
you have become a transgressor of the law.
002:012 So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a
law of freedom.
002:013 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
002:014 What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith,
but has no works? Can faith save him?
002:015 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,
002:016 and one of you tells them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled;"
and yet you didn't give them the things the body needs,
what good is it?
002:017 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
002:018 Yes, a man will say, "You have faith, and I have works."
Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show
you my faith.
002:019 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons
also believe, and shudder.
002:020 But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from
works is dead?
002:021 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered
up Isaac his son on the altar?
002:022 You see that faith worked with his works, and by works
faith was perfected;
002:023 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him as righteousness;"{Genesis 15:16}
and he was called the friend of God.
002:024 You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not
only by faith.
002:025 In like manner wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified
by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them
out another way?
002:026 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith
apart from works is dead.
003:001 Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we
will receive heavier judgment.
003:002 For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn't
stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle
the whole body also.
003:003 Indeed, we put bits into the horses' mouths so that they may
obey us, and we guide their whole body.
003:004 Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven
by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder,
wherever the pilot desires.
003:005 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things.
See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
003:006 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among
our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body,
and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire
by Gehenna.{or, Hell}
003:007 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing
in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.
003:008 But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,
full of deadly poison.
003:009 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men,
who are made in the image of God.
003:010 Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing.
My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
003:011 Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?
003:012 Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs?
Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.
003:013 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his
good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.
003:014 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart,
don't boast and don't lie against the truth.
003:015 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above,
but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.
003:016 For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion
and every evil deed.
003:017 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful,
gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
003:018 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those
who make peace.
004:001 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?
Don't they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
004:002 You lust, and don't have. You kill, covet, and can't obtain.
You fight and make war. You don't have, because you don't ask.
004:003 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
004:004 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship
with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants
to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
004:005 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit
who lives in us yearns jealously"?
004:006 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists
the proud, but gives grace to the humble."{Proverbs 3:34}
004:007 Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will
flee from you.
004:008 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands,
you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
004:009 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning,
and your joy to gloom.
004:010 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
004:011 Don't speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks
against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against
the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law,
you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
004:012 Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.
But who are you to judge another?
004:013 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let's go into this city,
and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."
004:014 Whereas you don't know what your life will be like tomorrow.
For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears
for a little time, and then vanishes away.
004:015 For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live,
and do this or that."
004:016 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
004:017 To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn't do it,
to him it is sin.
005:001 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are
coming on you.
005:002 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.
005:003 Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be
for a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh like fire.
You have laid up your treasure in the last days.
005:004 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields,
which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries
of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord
of Armies{Greek: Sabaoth (for Hebrew: Tze'va'ot)}.
005:005 You have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure.
You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
005:006 You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous one.
He doesn't resist you.
005:007 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain.
005:008 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming
of the Lord is at hand.
005:009 Don't grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you
won't be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.
005:010 Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of patience,
the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
005:011 Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard
of the patience of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome,
and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
005:012 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, neither by heaven,
nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your "yes"
be "yes," and your "no," "no;" so that you don't fall into
hypocrisy.{TR reads "under judgment" instead of "into hypocrisy"}
005:013 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful?
Let him sing praises.
005:014 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name
of the Lord,
005:015 and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick,
and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins,
he will be forgiven.
005:016 Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another,
that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous
person is powerfully effective.
005:017 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain, and it didn't rain on the earth
for three years and six months.
005:018 He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought
forth its fruit.
005:019 Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth, and someone
turns him back,
005:020 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way
will save a soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.