James 1
1 James, servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, greetings.
JAMES, a servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus the Messiah; to the twelve tribes dispersed among the Gentiles; greeting peace.
2 My brothers, when you have fallen into various trials, consider everything a joy,
Let it be all joy to you, my brethren, when ye enter into many and various trials.
3 knowing that the proving of your faith exercises patience,
For ye know, that the trial of your faith, maketh you possess patience.
4 and patience brings a work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole, deficient in nothing.
And let patience have its perfect work, so that ye may be complete and perfect, and may lack nothing.
5 But if anyone among you is in need of wisdom, let him petition God, who gives abundantly to all without reproach, and it shall be given to him.
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 But he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved about by the wind and carried away;
But let him ask in faith, not hesitating: he who hesitateth is like the waves of the sea, which the wind agitateth.
7 then a man should not consider that he would receive anything from the Lord.
And let not that man expect to receive any thing of the Lord,
8 For a man who is of two minds is inconstant in all his ways.
who is hesitating in his mind, and unstable in all his ways.
9 Now a humble brother should glory in his exaltation,
And let the depressed brother rejoice, in his elevation;
10 and a rich one, in his humiliation, for he will pass away like the flower of the grass.
and the rich, in his depression; because, like the flower of an herb, so he passeth away.
11 For the sun has risen with a scorching heat, and has dried the grass, and its flower has fallen off, and the appearance of its beauty has perished. So also will the rich one wither away, according to his paths.
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 Blessed is the man who suffers temptation. For when he has been proven, he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.
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 No one should say, when he is tempted, that he was tempted by God. For God does not entice toward evils, and he himself tempts no one.
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 Yet truly, each one is tempted by his own desires, having been enticed and drawn away.
But every man is tempted by his own lust; and he lusteth, and is drawn away.
15 Thereafter, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. Yet truly sin, when it has been consummated, produces death.
And this his lust conceiveth, and bringeth forth sin; and sin, when mature, bringeth forth death.
16 And so, do not choose to go astray, my most beloved brothers.
Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Every excellent gift and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor any shadow of alteration.
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 For by his own will he produced us through the Word of truth, so that we might be a kind of beginning among his creatures.
He saw fit, and begat us by the word of truth; that we might be the first-fruits of his creatures.
19 You know this, my most beloved brothers. So let every man be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to anger.
And be ye, my beloved brethren, every one of you, swift to hear, and slow to speak; and slow to wrath:
20 For the anger of man does not accomplish the justice of God.
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Because of this, having cast away all uncleanness and an abundance of malice, receive with meekness the newly-grafted Word, which is able to save your souls.
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 So be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only; and do not deceive yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a listener of the Word, but not also a doer, he is comparable to a man gazing into a mirror upon the face that he was born with;
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 and after considering himself, he went away and promptly forgot what he had seen.
for he seeth himself, and passeth on, and forgetteth what a man he was.
25 But he who gazes upon the perfect law of liberty, and who remains in it, is not a forgetful hearer, but instead a doer of the work. He shall be blessed in what he does.
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 But if anyone considers himself to be religious, but he does not restrain his tongue, but instead seduces his own heart: such a one’s religion is vanity.
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 This is religion, clean and undefiled before God the Father: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulations, and to keep yourself immaculate, apart from this age.
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.
