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 in the dispersion: Greetings!
2 Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you experience various troubles.
3 scientes quod probatio fidei vestrae patientiam operatur.
You know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
Let endurance complete its work, so that you may become fully developed and complete, not lacking anything.
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 needs wisdom, let him ask for it from God, the one who gives generously and without rebuke to all who ask, and he will give it to 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, doubting nothing. For anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven by the wind and tossed around.
7 non ergo aestimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
For that person must not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8 Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis.
Such a person is double-minded, unstable in all his ways.
9 Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua:
Let the poor brother boast of his high position,
10 dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos foeni transibit:
but the rich man of his low position, because he will pass away as a wild flower in the grass.
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 rises with burning heat and dries up the grass. The flower falls off, and its beauty perishes. In the same way, the rich man will fade away in the middle of his journey.
12 Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se.
Blessed is the man who endures testing. For after he has passed the test, he will receive the crown of life, which has been promised to those who love God.
13 Nemo cum tentatur, dicat quoniam a Deo tentatur: Deus enim intentator malorum est: ipse autem neminem tentat.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” because God is not tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone.
14 Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus.
But each person is tempted by his own desire, which drags him away and entices him.
15 Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem.
Then after the desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and after the sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
16 Nolite itaque errare fratres mei dilectissimi.
Do not be deceived, my beloved 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 gift and every perfect gift is from above. It comes down from the Father of lights. With him there is no changing or shadow because of turning.
18 Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius.
God chose to give us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all the things that he created.
19 Scitis fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum: tardus autem ad loquendum, et tardus ad iram.
You know this, my beloved brothers: Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
20 Ira enim viri, iustitiam Dei non operatur.
For the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.
21 Propter quod abiicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiae, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
Therefore take off all sinful filth and abundant amounts of evil. In humility receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos.
Be doers of the word and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves.
23 Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor: hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suae in speculo:
For if anyone is a hearer of the word but not a doer, he is like a man who examines his natural face in a mirror.
24 consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit.
He examines himself and then goes away and immediately forgets 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 the person who looks carefully into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so, not just being a hearer who forgets, this man will be blessed in his actions.
26 Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, huius vana est religio.
If anyone thinks himself to be religious, but if he does not control his tongue, he deceives his heart, and his religion is worthless.
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.
Religion that is pure and unspoiled before our God and Father is to help the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
