Iacobi 1
1 Iacobus Dei, et Domini nostri Iesu Christi servus, duodecim tribubus, quae sunt in dispersione, salutem.
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.
2 Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis:
Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;
3 scientes quod probatio fidei vestrae patientiam operatur.
Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;
4 Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.
5 Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei.
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.
6 Postulet autem in fide nihil haesitans: qui enim haesitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur.
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.
7 non ergo aestimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;
8 Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis.
For there is a division in his mind, and he is uncertain in all his ways.
9 Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua:
But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;
10 dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos foeni transibit:
But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end.
11 exortus est enim sol cum ardore, et arefecit foenum, et flos eius decidit, et decor vultus eius deperiit: ita et dives in itineribus suis marcescet.
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.
12 Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se.
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.
13 Nemo cum tentatur, dicat quoniam a Deo tentatur: Deus enim intentator malorum est: ipse autem neminem tentat.
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:
14 Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus.
But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.
15 Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem.
Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.
16 Nolite itaque errare fratres mei dilectissimi.
Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers.
17 Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio.
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.
18 Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius.
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.
19 Scitis fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum: tardus autem ad loquendum, et tardus ad iram.
You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;
20 Ira enim viri, iustitiam Dei non operatur.
For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.
21 Propter quod abiicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiae, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
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.
22 Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos.
But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.
23 Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor: hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suae in speculo:
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;
24 consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit.
For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.
25 Qui autem perspexerit in lege perfectae libertatis, et permanserit in ea, non auditor obliviosus factus, sed factor operis: hic beatus in facto suo erit.
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.
26 Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, huius vana est religio.
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.
27 Religio munda, et immaculata apud Deum et Patrem, haec est: Visitare pupillos, et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc saeculo.
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.
