James 1
1 James the servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
JAMES, a servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus the Messiah; to the twelve tribes dispersed among the Gentiles; greeting peace.
2 My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations;
Let it be all joy to you, my brethren, when ye enter into many and various trials.
3 Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
For ye know, that the trial of your faith, maketh you possess patience.
4 And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
And let patience have its perfect work, so that ye may be complete and perfect, and may lack nothing.
5 But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given 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 let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind.
But let him ask in faith, not hesitating: he who hesitateth is like the waves of the sea, which the wind agitateth.
7 Therefore let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
And let not that man expect to receive any thing of the Lord,
8 A double minded man is inconstant in all his ways.
who is hesitating in his mind, and unstable in all his ways.
9 But let the brother of low condition glory in his exaltation:
And let the depressed brother rejoice, in his elevation;
10 And the rich, in his being low; because as the flower of the grass shall he pass away.
and the rich, in his depression; because, like the flower of an herb, so he passeth away.
11 For the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
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 that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that 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 Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempteth no man.
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 But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.
But every man is tempted by his own lust; and he lusteth, and is drawn away.
15 Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death.
And this his lust conceiveth, and bringeth forth sin; and sin, when mature, bringeth forth death.
16 Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren.
Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor 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 of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of 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, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, 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 worketh not the justice of God.
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted 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 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only; and do not deceive yourselves.
23 For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.
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 For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was.
for he seeth himself, and passeth on, and forgetteth what a man he was.
25 But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed.
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 And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
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 Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.
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.
