James
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
2 My brothers,1 tshow 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 good2 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
3 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,1 and set on fire by hell.2 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,3 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.
Warning Against Worldliness
4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions1 are at twar within you?2 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, ubecause you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask vwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You wadulterous people!3 xDo you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the yspirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, z“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. aResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 bDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you cdouble-minded. 9 dBe wretched and mourn and weep. eLet your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 fHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.4 The one who speaks against a brother or gjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one hlawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. iBut who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, j“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet kyou do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a lmist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, m“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. nAll such boasting is evil. 17 oSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, you prich, qweep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are rmoth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up streasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the twages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a uday of slaughter. 6 You have vcondemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,1 until the wcoming of the Lord. xSee how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the yearly and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, zfor the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, aso that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the bprophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those cblessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of dthe steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ethe purpose of the Lord, fhow the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brothers, gdo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, hbut let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
The Prayer of Faith
13 iIs anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? jLet him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, kanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. lAnd if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. mThe prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.2 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and nhe prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 oThen he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, pif anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will qcover a multitude of sins.
