James 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.
Jacobus, Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi servus, duodecim tribubus, quæ sunt in dispersione, salutem.
2 Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;
Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis:
3 Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;
scientes quod probatio fidei vestræ patientiam operatur.
4 But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.
Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
5 But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.
Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei.
6 Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.
Postulet autem in fide nihil hæsitans: qui enim hæsitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur:
7 Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;
non ergo æstimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
8 For there is a division in his mind, and he is uncertain in all his ways.
Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis.
9 But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;
Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua:
10 But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end.
dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos fœni transibit;
11 For when the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass gets dry and the grace of its form is gone with the falling flower; so the man of wealth comes to nothing in his ways.
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.
12 There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.
Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se.
13 Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:
Nemo cum tentatur, dicat quoniam a Deo tentatur: Deus enim intentator malorum est: ipse autem neminem tentat.
14 But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.
Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus.
15 Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.
Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem.
16 Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers.
Nolite itaque errare, fratres mei dilectissimi.
17 Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.
Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio.
18 Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.
Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturæ ejus.
19 You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;
Scitis, fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum: tardus autem ad loquendum, et tardus ad iram.
20 For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.
Ira enim viri justitiam Dei non operatur.
21 For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.
Propter quod abjicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiæ, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.
Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos.
23 Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass;
Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor, hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suæ in speculo:
24 For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.
consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit.
25 But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.
Qui autem perspexerit in legem perfectam libertatis, et permanserit in ea, non auditor obliviosus factus, sed factor operis: hic beatus in facto suo erit.
26 If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.
Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, hujus vana est religio.
27 The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.
Religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et Patrem, hæc est: visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc sæculo.
