1 ¶ James, a a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2 ¶ My brethren, b count it all joy c when you fall into various trials,
3 d knowing that the trying of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work so that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.
5 e If any of you lacks wisdom, f let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach. And g it will be given to him.
6 But h let him ask in faith without doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8 i A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9 ¶ Let the brother of humble circumstances rejoice in that he is exalted,
10 and the rich in his humiliation, because j as the flower of the grass, he will pass away.
11 For the sun rises with a burning heat and withers the grass. And its flower falls and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his ways.
12 ¶ k Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he is tried, he will receive l the crown of life m that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God.” For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He tempt any man.
14 But every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
15 Then n when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full-grown, o brings forth death.
16 ¶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 p Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, q with whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning.
18 r Of His own will He brought us forth by the s word of truth, so t that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, let everyone be swift to hear, u slow to speak, v slow to wrath.
20 For the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.
21 ¶ Therefore, w lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word x that is able to save your souls.
22 ¶ But y be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For z if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror,
24 for he observes himself and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But a he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues to abide in it, not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, b this man will be blessed in his deed.
26 ¶ If any man among you seems to be religious, and c does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is useless.
27 d Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, e to take care of the orphans and widows in their affliction, and f to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Chapter 1 References:
a At 12:17; b At 5:41; c 1 Pt 1:6; d Rm 5:3-5; e 1 Kg 3:9; f Mt 7:7; g Jr 29:12;
h Mk 11:23,24; i Js 4:8; j Jb 14:2; k Js 5:11; l 1 Co 9:25; m Mt 10:22;
n Jb 15:35; o Rm 5:12; 6:23; p Jn 3:27; q Nm 23:19; r Jn 1:13; s 1 Pt 1:3,23;
t Ep 1:12,13; u Pv 10:19; 17:27; v Pv 14:17; 16:32; w Cl 3:8; x At 13:26;
y Mt 7:21-28; z Lk 6:47; a Js 2:12; b Jn 13:17; c Ps 34:13; d Mt 25:34-36;
e Is 1:17; f Rm 12:2
1 ¶ My brethren, a do not show favoritism and hold the faith of our b glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with a gold ring in fine clothing, and there come in also a poor man in filthy clothes,
3 and you show respect to the one who wears the fine clothing, and you say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor, “You stand there, or sit here at my footstool,”
4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 ¶ Listen, my beloved brethren, c has not God chosen the poor of this world to be d rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom e that He has promised to those who love Him?
6 But f you have despised the poor. Do not the rich oppress you g and drag you into courts?
7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are h called?
8 ¶ If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, i “You will love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
9 But if you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as j transgressors.
10 For whoever will keep the whole law, and yet k stumble in one point, l he has become guilty of all.
11 For he who said, m “Do not commit adultery,” also said, n “Do not kill.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by o the law of liberty.
13 For p judgment will be without mercy to the one who has shown q no r mercy. And s mercy rejoices over judgment.
14 ¶ t What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 u If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and v one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them those things that are needful to the body, what does it profit?
17 Even so faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 ¶ But someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” w Show me your faith without your works, x and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. The demons also believe and tremble.
20 But are you willing to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works y when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 You see z that faith was working with his works, and by a works was faith made perfect.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, b “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness.” And he was called c the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only.
25 ¶ Likewise, d was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 ¶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Chapter 2 References:
a Lv 10:15; b 1 Co 2:8; c 1 Co 1:27; d Lk 12:21; e Ex 20:6; f 1 Co 11:22;
g At 13:50; h 1 Pt 4:16; i Lv 19:18; j Dt 1:17; k Gl 3:10; l Dt 27:26;
m Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18; n Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17; o Js 1:25; p Jb 22:6;
q Pv 21:13; r Mc 7:18; s Rm 12:8; t Mt 7:21-23,26; 21:28-32;
u Lk 3:11; v 1 Jn 3:17,18; w Hb 6:10; x Js 3:13; y Gn 22:9,10,12,16-18;
z Hb 11:17; a Jn 8:39; b Gn 15:6; c 2 Co 20:7; d Hb 11:31
1 ¶ My brethren, a let not many of you become teachers, b knowing that we will receive the stricter judgment.
2 For in many things c we all stumble. d If anyone does not stumble in word, e the same is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Indeed, f we put bits in the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, though they are so great and are driven by fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
5 Even so, g the tongue is a little member and h boasts great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by a small fire!
6 And i the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it j defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature. And it is set on fire by hell.
7 For every kind of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
8 But no one can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, k full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our God and Father. And with it we curse men, who have been made l after the likeness of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
11 Does a fountain send forth at the same place both sweet and bitter water?
12 Can the m fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can a salt water spring produce fresh water.
13 ¶ n Who is a wise and understanding man among you? Let him show by good behavior his works in meekness of wisdom.
14 But if you have o bitter envy and strife in your hearts, p do not boast and lie against the truth.
15 q This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
16 For r where envy and strife exist, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But s the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, t without partiality and u without hypocrisy.
18 And v the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Chapter 3 References:
a Mt 23:8; b Lk 6:37; c 1 Kg 8:46; d Ps 34:13; e Mt 12:34-37; f Ps 32:9;
g Pv 12:18; 15:2; h Ps 12:3; 73:8; i Pv 16:27; j Mt 12:36; 15:11,18;
k Ps 140:3; l Gn 1:26; 5:1; 9:6; m Mt 7:16-20; n Gl 6:4; o Rm 13:13;
p Rm 2:17; q Ph 3:19; r 1 Co 3:3; s 1 Co 2:6,7; t Js 2:1; u Rm 12:9;
v Pv 11:18
1 ¶ From where come wars and fights among you? Do they not come from your pleasures a that war in your members?
2 You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you do not have because you do not ask.
3 bYou ask and do not receive cbecause you ask with wrong motives so that you may consume it upon your pleasures.
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that dfriendship with the world is enmity with God? eTherefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, f“The spirit that dwells in us envies intensely?”
6 ¶ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, g“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 ¶ Therefore, submit yourselves to God. hResist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 iDraw near to God and He will draw near to you. jCleanse your hands, you sinners. And kpurify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 lBe distressed and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 mHumble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
11 ¶ nDo not speak evil one of another, brethren. He who speaks evil of his brother and ojudges his brother, speaks evil of law and judges law. But if you judge law, you are not a doer of law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver pwho is able to save and to destroy. qWho are you to judge another?
13 ¶ Come now you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year. And we will buy and sell and make profit.”
14 You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? rIt is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead, you ought to say, s“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. tAll such boasting is evil.
17 ¶ Therefore, uto him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Chapter 4 References:
a Rm 7:23; b Jb 27:8,9; c Ps 66:18; d 1 Jn 2:15; e Gl 1:4; f Gn 6:5;
g Pv 3:24; h Ep 4:27; 6:11; i 2 Co 15:2; j Is 1:16; k 1 Pt 1:22;
l Mt 5:4; m Jb 22:29; n 1 Pt 2:1-3; o Mt 7:1-5; p Mt 10:28;
q Rm 14:4; r Jb 7:7; s At 18:21; t 1 Co 5:6; u Lk 12:47
1 ¶ Come now you arich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
2 Your briches are corrupted and cyour garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded. And their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. dYou have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, ethe wages of the laborers who have mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out against you. And fthe cries of those who have harvested have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived in pleasure on the earth and lived a self-indulgent life. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and killed the just. He does not resist you.
7 ¶ Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth. And he has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
9 ¶ Do not complain one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge stands at the door.
10 gAs an example of suffering and patience, my brethren, hconsider the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 Behold, iwe count them blessed who jendure. You have heard of kthe patience of Job and have seen lthe outcome of the Lord’s work, that mthe Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12 ¶ But above all things, my brethren, ndo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your yes be yes and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
13 ¶ Is anyone among you afflicted? Let him opray. Is anyone cheerful? pLet him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, qanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will restore the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And rif he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16 Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. sThe prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.
17 Elijah was a man twith a nature like ours. And uhe prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed vagain and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.
19 ¶ Brethren, if any of you strays from the truth, and one wbrings him back,
20 let him know that he who converts the sinner from the error of his way xwill save a soul from death and will ycover a multitude of sins.
Chapter 5 References:
a Lk 6:24; b Mt 6:19; c Jb 13:28; d Rm 2:5; e Lv 19:13;
f Dt 24:15; g Hb 10:36; h Mt 5:12; i Ps 94:12; j Js 1:12;
k Jb 1:21,22; 2:10; l Jb 42:10; m Nm 14:18; n Mt 5:34-47;
o Ps 50:14,15; p Ep 5:19; q Mk 6:13; 16:18; r Is 33:24;
s Nm 11:2; t At 14:15; u 1 Kg 17:1; 18:1; v 1 Kg 18:1,42;
w Gl 6:1; x Rm 11:14; y 1 Pt 4:8