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, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.
2 Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis:
Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;
3 scientes quod probatio fidei vestrae patientiam operatur.
Knowing that the proof of your faith worketh patience.
4 Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
And let patience have [its] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
5 Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei.
But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 Postulet autem in fide nihil haesitans: qui enim haesitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur.
But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
7 non ergo aestimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;
8 Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis.
a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua:
But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:
10 dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos foeni transibit:
and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
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 the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
12 Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] promised to them that love 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 tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:
14 Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus.
but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
15 Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
16 Nolite itaque errare fratres mei dilectissimi.
Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio.
Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
18 Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19 Scitis fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum: tardus autem ad loquendum, et tardus ad iram.
Ye know [this], my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 Ira enim viri, iustitiam Dei non operatur.
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Propter quod abiicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiae, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
23 Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor: hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suae in speculo:
For if any one is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:
24 consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit.
for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
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 that looketh into the perfect law, the [law] of liberty, and [so] continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.
26 Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, huius vana est religio.
If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man’s religion is vain.
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.
Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.
