The Lord Sends Rain

41 ^qAnd Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46 And ^rthe hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Elijah Flees Jezebel

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ^s“So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. ^tAnd he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went ^uin the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

The Lord Speaks to Elijah

9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. ^vFor the people of Israel have ^wforsaken your covenant, ^xthrown down your altars, and ^ykilled your prophets with the sword, and ^zI, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord ^apassed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.¹ 13 And when Elijah heard it, he ^bwrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint ^cHazael to be king over Syria. 16 And ^dJehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and ^eElisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the ^fsword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 ^gYet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

The Call of Elisha

19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, ^h“Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and ⁱtook the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

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.