The Letter from James
1:1James, a servant of God and of the
Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion:
Greetings. 1:2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, 1:3knowing that the testing of your
faith produces endurance. 1:4Let endurance have its perfect
work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 1:5But 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. 1:6But 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. 1:7For let that man not think that he
will receive anything from the Lord. 1:8He is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
1:9But let the brother in humble
circumstances glory in his high position; 1:10and the
rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he
will pass away. 1:11For 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.
1:12Blessed 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. 1:13Let 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. 1:14But each
one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. 1:15Then the lust, when it has
conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth
death. 1:16Don't be deceived, my beloved
brothers. 1:17Every 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. 1:18Of his own
will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
first fruits of his creatures.
1:19So, then, my beloved brothers,
let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; 1:20for the anger of man doesn't
produce the righteousness of God. 1:21Therefore,
putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with
humility the implanted word, which is able to save your
souls. 1:22But be doers of the word, and not
only hearers, deluding your own selves. 1:23For if
anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding
his natural face in a mirror; 1:24for he sees himself, and goes
away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 1:25But he who looks into the perfect
law, the 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.
1:26If 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. 1:27Pure
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.
2:1My brothers, don't hold the faith
of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. 2:2For if a man
with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your assembly, and a poor
man in filthy clothing also comes in; 2:3and 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;" 2:4haven't you
shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
2:5Listen, 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? 2:6But you have dishonored the poor
man. Don't the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the
courts? 2:7Don't they blaspheme the honorable
name by which you are called? 2:8However, if you fulfill the royal
law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as
yourself," you do well. 2:9But if you show partiality, you
commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 2:10For whoever shall keep the whole
law, and yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of all. 2:11For he who said, "Do not
commit adultery," said also, "Do not commit murder." Now if
you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of
the law. 2:12So speak, and so do, as men who
are to be judged by a law of freedom. 2:13For
judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs
over judgment.
2:14What good is it, my brothers, if
a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? 2:15And if a brother or sister is
naked and in lack of daily food, 2:16and 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? 2:17Even so faith, if it has no
works, is dead in itself. 2:18Yes, a man will say, "You
have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith from your works,
and I by my works will show you my faith.
2:19You believe that God is one. You
do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. 2:20But do you
want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? 2:21Wasn't Abraham our father
justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 2:22You see that faith worked with
his works, and by works faith was perfected; 2:23and the
Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him as righteousness;" and he was called the friend of
God. 2:24You see then that by works, a man
is justified, and not only by faith. 2:25In like
manner wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she
received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 2:26For as the body apart from the
spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
3:1Let not many of you be teachers,
my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. 3:2For 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. 3:3Indeed, we put bits into the
horses' mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. 3:4Behold, 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. 3:5So the
tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small
fire can spread to a large forest! 3:6And 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. 3:7For every
kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing in the sea, is tamed, and
has been tamed by mankind. 3:8But nobody can tame the tongue. It
is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 3:9With it we
bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the
image of God. 3:10Out of the same mouth comes forth
blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 3:11Does a spring send out from the
same opening fresh and bitter water? 3:12Can a fig
tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields
both salt water and fresh water.
3:13Who is wise and understanding
among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in
gentleness of wisdom. 3:14But if you have bitter jealousy
and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and don't lie against the
truth. 3:15This wisdom is not that which
comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. 3:16For where jealousy and selfish
ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. 3:17But the wisdom that is from above
is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 3:18Now the
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
4:1Where do wars and fightings among
you come from? Don't they come from your pleasures that war in your
members? 4:2You 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. 4:3You ask, and don't receive,
because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your
pleasures. 4:4You 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.
4:5Or do you think that the Scripture
says in vain, "The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously"? 4:6But he gives more grace. Therefore
it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
4:7Be subject therefore to God. But
resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 4:8Draw near to
God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and
purify your hearts, you double-minded. 4:9Lament,
mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to
gloom. 4:10Humble yourselves in the sight of
the Lord, and he will exalt you.
4:11Don'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. 4:12Only one is
the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge
another?
4:13Come now, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow let's go into this city, and spend a year there,
trade, and make a profit." 4:14Whereas 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. 4:15For you ought to say, "If
the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that." 4:16But now you glory in your
boasting. All such boasting is evil. 4:17To him
therefore who knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.
5:1Come now, you rich, weep and howl
for your miseries that are coming on you. 5:2Your riches
are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. 5:3Your 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. 5:4Behold, 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. 5:5You have lived delicately on the
earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day
of slaughter. 5:6You have condemned, you have
murdered the righteous one. He doesn't resist you.
5:7Be 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. 5:8You also be patient. Establish
your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
5:9Don't grumble, brothers, against
one another, so that you won't be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the
door. 5:10Take, brothers, for an example of
suffering and of patience, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
5:11Behold, 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. 5:12But 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.
5:13Is any among you suffering? Let
him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. 5:14Is 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, 5:15and 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. 5:16Confess your offenses to one
another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effective,
earnest prayer of a righteous man is powerfully effective. 5:17Elijah 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. 5:18He prayed
again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.
5:19Brothers, if any among you
wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 5:20let 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.
Notes:
[1] back to 1:2
The word for "brothers" here and where context allows may also
be correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or
"siblings."
[2] back to
1:21 or, preserve your life.
[3] back to 3:6 Gehenna is a name that describes a burning
Hell with rotting bodies and unclean things in it
[4]
back to 5:12 TR reads "under judgment"
instead of "into hypocrisy"
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