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.¹ 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.