1Verse 1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are scattered abroad: Greetings.
The Testing of Your Faith Produces Endurance
Verse 2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you experience various trials,Verse 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.Verse 4And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.Verse 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.Verse 6But he must ask in faith without doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven by the wind and tossed about.Verse 7That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.Verse 8A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
The Lowly Brother and the Rich Man
Verse 9The lowly brother should rejoice in being exalted,Verse 10and the rich man should rejoice in being made low, because he will pass away like a flower of grass.Verse 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass, and its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance is lost. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits.
Enduring Temptation
Verse 12Blessed is the man who+endures temptation, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which+the Lord has promised to those who love him.Verse 13No one should say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God is not tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.Verse 14But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires.Verse 15And when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully grown, it brings forth death.Verse 16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.Verse 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.Verse 18Of his own will he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Abiding by the Word
Verse 19+So then, my beloved brothers, everyone should be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.Verse 20For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.Verse 21Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and rampant wickedness, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save+your souls.Verse 22But be doers of the word and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.Verse 23For if anyone is a hearer of the+word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror.Verse 24For he looks at himself and goes away, and then immediately forgets what he looks like.Verse 25But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it,+is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts. He will be blessed in what he does.Verse 26If anyone+among you considers himself to be religious but does not bridle his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.Verse 27Pure and undefiled religion before God our Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.