Elijah Confronts Ahab

1 After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the ^wthird year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 4 and when ^xJezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.

7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’ 12 And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will ^ycarry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; and he will kill me.” 15 And Elijah said, ^z“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ^a“Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have ^babandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the ^c450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

The Prophets of Baal Defeated

20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? ^dIf the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, ^e“I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been ^fthrown down. 31 Elijah took ^gtwelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, ^hto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ⁱ“Israel shall be your name,” 32 and with the stones he ^jbuilt an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs¹ of seed. 33 And he ^kput the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

36 And at the ^ltime of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, ^mGod of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, ⁿand that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the ^ofire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and ^pslaughtered them there.

I Love the Lord

Greeting

1 ^aJames, a ^bservant¹ of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the ^cDispersion:

Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

2 ^dCount it all joy, my brothers,² when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you ^eknow that the ^ftesting of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be ^gperfect and ^hcomplete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you lacks ⁱwisdom, let him ^jask God, who gives generously to all ^kwithout reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, ^lwith no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and ^mtossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a ⁿdouble-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 ^oLet the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the ^prich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass³ he will pass away. 11 For the ^qsun rises with its scorching heat and withers the ^rgrass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 ^sBlessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the ^tcrown of life, which God has promised to those who ^ulove him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being ^vtempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed ^wby his own ^xdesire. 15 Then desire ^ywhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ^zsin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 ^aDo not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 ^bEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is ^cno variation or shadow due to change.⁴ 18 Of his own will he ^dbrought us forth ^eby the ^fword of truth, that we should be a kind of ^gfirstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be ^hquick to hear, ⁱslow to speak, ^jslow to anger; 20 ^kfor the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the ^limplanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ^mdoers of the word, and ⁿnot hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the ^olaw of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be ^pblessed in his doing.

26 ^qIf anyone thinks he is religious and does not ^rbridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit ^sorphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

The Sin of Partiality

1 My brothers,^{5 t}show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the ^uLord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, ^vhas not God chosen ^wthose who are poor in the world to be ^xrich in faith and ^yheirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who ^zblaspheme the honorable ^aname by which you were called?

8 If you really fulfill the ^broyal law according to the Scripture, ^c“You shall ^dlove your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the ^ewhole law but ^ffails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, ^g“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^h“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the ⁱlaw of liberty. 13 ^jFor judgment is ^kwithout mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has ^lfaith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 ^mIf a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good⁶ is that? 17 So also ⁿfaith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^oby my works. 19 You believe that ^pGod is one; you do well. Even the ^qdemons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not ^rAbraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that ^sfaith was active along with his works, and ^tfaith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ^u“Abraham believed God, and it was ^vcounted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a ^wfriend of God. 24 You see that a person is ^xjustified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also ^yRahab the prostitute justified by works ^zwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Taming the Tongue

1 ^aNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 ^bFor we all ^cstumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to ^dbridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it ^eboasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a ^ffire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^gstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,⁷ and set on fire by hell.⁸ 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^hfull of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are ⁱmade in the likeness of God. 10 ^jFrom the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,⁹ these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 ^kCan a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter ^ljealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, ^mdo not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the ⁿwisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, ^odemonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be ^pdisorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of ^qmercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a ^rharvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who ^smake peace.