1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greeting.
1:2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials,
1:3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
1:4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.
1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
1:7 For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man,
1:8 unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.
1:9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
1:10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away.
1:11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
1:12 Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.
1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one;
1:14 but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
1:15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.
1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
1:17 Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
1:19 Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
1:20 for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.
1:21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
1:23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror;
1:24 for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.
1:26 If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain.
1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
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