James


1:1   James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,   To the twelve
tribes scattered among the nations:   Greetings.  
1:2   Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many
kinds, 
1:3  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 
1:4  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything. 
1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to
all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 
1:6  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts
is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 
1:7  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 
1:8  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. 
1:9   The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high
position. 
1:10  But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because
he will pass away like a wild flower. 
1:11  For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its
blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man
will fade away even while he goes about his business. 
1:12   Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has
stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to
those who love him. 
1:13   When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot
be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 
1:14  but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged
away and enticed. 
1:15  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when
it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 
1:16   Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 
1:17  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 
1:18  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be
a kind of firstfruits of all he created. 
1:19   My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to
listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 
1:20  for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God
desires. 
1:21  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so
prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 
1:22   Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what
it says. 
1:23  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a
man who looks at his face in a mirror 
1:24  and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what
he looks like. 
1:25  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives
freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but
doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. 
1:26   If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight
rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 
1:27  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world. 

2:1   My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't
show favoritism. 
2:2  Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine
clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 
2:3  If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say,
"Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or
"Sit on the floor by my feet," 
2:4  have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil
thoughts? 
2:5   Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the
eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised
those who love him? 
2:6  But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting
you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 
2:7  Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom
you belong? 
2:8   If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your
neighbor as yourself," {[8] Lev. 19:18} you are doing right. 
2:9  But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as
lawbreakers. 
2:10  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is
guilty of breaking all of it. 
2:11  For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," {[11] Exodus 20:14; Deut.
5:18} also said, "Do not murder." {[11] Exodus 20:13; Deut. 5:17} If you do
not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 
2:12   Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that
gives freedom, 
2:13  because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not
been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! 
2:14   What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has
no deeds? Can such faith save him? 
2:15  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 
2:16  If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well
fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 
2:17  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead. 
2:18   But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."  Show me your
faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 
2:19  You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe
that--and shudder. 
2:20   You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is
useless {[20] Some early manuscripts <dead>}? 
2:21  Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when
he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 
2:22  You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his
faith was made complete by what he did. 
2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and
it was credited to him as righteousness," {[23] Gen. 15:6} and he was called
God's friend. 
2:24  You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith
alone. 
2:25   In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered
righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them
off in a different direction? 
2:26  As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is
dead. 

3:1   Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because
you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 
3:2  We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he
says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. 
3:3   When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we
can turn the whole animal. 
3:4  Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven
by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot
wants to go. 
3:5  Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great
boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 
3:6  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.
It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and
is itself set on fire by hell. 
3:7   All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are
being tamed and have been tamed by man, 
3:8  but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly
poison. 
3:9   With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse
men, who have been made in God's likeness. 
3:10  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this
should not be. 
3:11  Can both fresh water and salt {[11] Greek <bitter> (see also verse
14)} water flow from the same spring? 
3:12  My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?
Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. 
3:13   Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good
life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 
3:14  But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do
not boast about it or deny the truth. 
3:15  Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly,
unspiritual, of the devil. 
3:16  For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder
and every evil practice. 
3:17   But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then
peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere. 
3:18  Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. 

4:1   What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your
desires that battle within you? 
4:2  You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot
have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do
not ask God. 
4:3  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 
4:4   You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world
is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes
an enemy of God. 
4:5  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused
to live in us envies intensely? {[5] Or <that God jealously longs for the
spirit that he made to live in us>; or <that the Spirit he caused to live in
us longs jealously>} 
4:6  But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 
          "God opposes the proud 
          but gives grace to the humble." {[6] Prov. 3:34} 
4:7   Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you. 
4:8  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you
sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 
4:9  Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy
to gloom. 
4:10  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 
4:11   Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his
brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge
the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 
4:12  There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and
destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor? 
4:13   Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or
that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 
4:14  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your
life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 
4:15  Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and
do this or that." 
4:16  As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 
4:17  Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it,
sins. 

5:1   Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that
is coming upon you. 
5:2  Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 
5:3  Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against
you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 
5:4  Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are
crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of
the Lord Almighty. 
5:5  You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have
fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. {[5] Or <yourselves as in a day
of feasting>} 
5:6  You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing
you. 
5:7   Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the
farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is
for the autumn and spring rains. 
5:8  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 
5:9  Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The
Judge is standing at the door! 
5:10   Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take
the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 
5:11  As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have
heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought
about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 
5:12   Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by
anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be
condemned. 
5:13   Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let
him sing songs of praise. 
5:14  Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to
pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 
5:15  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the
Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 
5:16  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so
that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective. 
5:17   Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not
rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 
5:18  Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its
crops. 
5:19   My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone
should bring him back, 
5:20  remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will
save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. 
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