Iacobi 1
1 Iacobus Dei, et Domini nostri Iesu Christi servus, duodecim tribubus, quae sunt in dispersione, salutem.
James, a bondman of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion, greeting.
2 Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when ye encounter various trials,
3 scientes quod probatio fidei vestrae patientiam operatur.
knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes.
And let perseverance have a perfect work, so that ye may be perfect and complete, falling short in nothing.
5 Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei.
And if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God who gives to all generously and not reproaching, 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.
But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by wind and tossed about.
7 non ergo aestimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
For that man should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis.
a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua:
Now let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
10 dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos foeni transibit:
but the rich in his lowliness, because as a flower of grass he will 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 rose up with the burning heat, and withered the grass. And the flower of it fell, and the beauty of its appearance perished. So also the rich man will fade away among his pursuits.
12 Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se.
Blessed is a man who endures temptation, because, having become approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who 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 by God, for God is without temptation of evils, and he himself tempts no man.
14 Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus.
But each man is tempted by his own lust, being drawn away and enticed.
15 Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem.
Then the lust having conceived, it gives birth to sin, and after being complete the sin brings forth death.
16 Nolite itaque errare fratres mei dilectissimi.
Be not led astray, 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 endowment is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning.
18 Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius.
Having deliberated, he begot us by the word of truth for us to be a certain first fruit of his creatures.
19 Scitis fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum: tardus autem ad loquendum, et tardus ad iram.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, 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 does not accomplish the righteousness of God.
21 Propter quod abiicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiae, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
Therefore having put off all filthiness and profusion of evil, receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos.
But become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
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, this resembles a man observing his natural face in a mirror.
24 consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit.
For he observes himself, and goes away, and straightaway forgets what kind 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 who stooped to look into the perfect law, the one of liberty, and who remained, this man, who did not become a forgetful hearer but a doer of work, this man will 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 among you seems to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his heart, this man's religion is futile.
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 from God and the Father is this, to go help the orphaned and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
