James - Chapter 1

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¹ From James, servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Greetings to the twelve tribes of the Dispersion.

² My brothers, consider it a great joy when trials of many kinds come upon you,

³ for you well know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and

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⁴ perseverance must complete its work so that you will become fully developed, complete, not deficient in any way.

⁵ Any of you who lacks wisdom must ask God, who gives to all generously and without scolding; it will be given.

⁶ But the prayer must be made with faith, and no trace of doubt, because a person who has doubts is like the waves thrown up in the sea by the buffeting of the wind.

⁷ That sort of person, in two minds,

⁸ inconsistent in every activity, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

⁹ It is right that the brother in humble circumstances should glory in being lifted up,

¹⁰ and the rich in being brought low. For the rich will last no longer than the wild flower;

¹¹ the scorching sun comes up, and the grass withers, its flower falls, its beauty is lost. It is the same with the rich: in the middle of a busy life, the rich will wither.

¹² Blessed is anyone who perseveres when trials come. Such a person is of proven worth and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

¹³ Never, when you are being put to the test, say, 'God is tempting me'; God cannot be tempted by evil, and he does not put anybody to the test .

¹⁴ Everyone is put to the test by being attracted and seduced by that person's own wrong desire.

¹⁵ Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin reaches full growth, it gives birth to death.

¹⁶ Make no mistake about this, my dear brothers:

¹⁷ all that is good, all that is perfect, is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow caused by change.

¹⁸ By his own choice he gave birth to us by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all his creation.

¹⁹ Remember this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to human anger;

²⁰ God's saving justice is never served by human anger;

²¹ so do away with all impurities and remnants of evil. Humbly welcome the Word which has been planted in you and can save your souls.

²² But you must do what the Word tells you and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves.

²³ Anyone who listens to the Word and takes no action is like someone who looks at his own features in a mirror and,

²⁴ once he has seen what he looks like, goes off and immediately forgets it.

²⁵ But anyone who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and keeps to it -- not listening and forgetting, but putting it into practice -- will be blessed in every undertaking.

²⁶ Nobody who fails to keep a tight rein on the tongue can claim to be religious; this is mere self-deception; that person's religion is worthless.

²⁷ Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father, is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows in their hardships, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.