James

Greeting

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve tribes scattered throughout the nations.

Patience and Wisdom

Consider yourselves fortunate, my brothers and sisters, when you face all kinds of trials,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

Let your perseverance be perfected through your actions, so that you may become perfect and blameless, lacking in nothing. 

If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God, who gives to everyone generously and unconditionally, and he will be given it. 

But ask with faith, not doubting, because the one who doubts is like a wave tossed by the wind on the sea. 

Such a person should not expect anything from the Lord 

because the doubter has two minds and his conduct will always be uncertain.

Poor and Rich

Let the believer who is poor, boast in being uplifted,

and let the rich boast in being humbled, because he will pass away like the flower of the field. 

The sun rises, and its heat dries the grass; the flower withers and its beauty vanishes. So, too, will the rich person fade away even in the midst of his pursuits.

The Test

Blessed are those who patiently endure trials because afterward, they will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.

No one should say, “This temptation comes from God,” when tempted. God is never tempted, and he can never tempt anyone. 

Instead, each of us is tempted and drawn in by our own evil desire. 

Once this desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, leads to death. 

Don’t be deceived, my beloved. 

Every generous act of giving comes from above, from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no change or shadow of a change. 

By his own will, he gave us life through the word of truth, so that we might become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Hear, Speak, and Do

My beloved, be quick to listen but slow to speak, and slow to anger,

for human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God. 

Therefore, remove all filth and evil from yourselves, and accept the message that has been planted in you, which can save your souls. 

Be doers of the word and not just hearers—otherwise, you deceive yourselves. 

For if anyone hears the word but does not do what it says, he’s like a man who looks at himself in a mirror; 

he sees himself, then walks away and immediately forgets what he looked like. 

But those who look closely into the perfect law that brings freedom, and stay in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—will be blessed in what they do.

Those who believe they are religious but do not control their tongue deceive themselves, and their religion is empty. 

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their need and to keep oneself unstained by the world.