Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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¶1. James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the twelve tribes that are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
¶2. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials,
3.knowing that the trying of your faith produces patience,
4.but let patience have its perfect work, that you might be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
¶5. If anyone among you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all and does not belittle, and it shall be given to him.
6. But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, wind-driven and tossed.
7. Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
¶9. Let the lowly brother glory in his exalted position,
10.and the wealthy, in his lowly state, for like a flower of the grass, he shall pass away.
11. For the sun rises with its burning heat and withers the grass, and its flower falls, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed. Likewise, the rich man, with all his ways, shall also fade away.
¶12. Blessed is the man who endures a trial, for being approved, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13. When being tempted, let no one say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one,
14.but every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire, and enticed.
15. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is accomplished, brings forth death.
¶16. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, nor shadow of change.
18. As He had determined beforehand, He gave us a new birth by the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
¶19. Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
20.for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.
21. Wherefore, laying aside all filthiness and every wicked excess, receive with meekness the implanted word that is able to save your souls.
22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man contemplating his natural face in a mirror,
24.who observed himself and went away, and immediately forgot what he was like.
25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in his doing.
26. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is in vain.
27. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted by the world.
¶1. My brothers, do not hold the faith of our Lord of glory, Jesus Christ, with respect of persons.
2. If a man should come into your synagogue with a gold ring, in fine clothes, and a poor man also comes in with shabby clothes,
3.and you have respect toward the one who is wearing the fine clothing, and you say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” but to the poor man you say, “You stand there,” or “Sit here at my footstool,”
4.have you not then shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5. Listen, my beloved brothers. Has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him?
6. But you have despised the poor man. Do not rich men oppress you and drag you into courts?
7. Do they not blaspheme the good name by which you are called?
8. If you truly are fulfilling the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well,
9.but if you show respect of persons, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10. Whoever keeps the whole law, yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of all.
11. For He who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” So, if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12. So speak and so act as they who shall be judged by the law of liberty.
13. For judgment without mercy will be to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
¶14. What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?
15. If a brother or a sister be without clothing or be lacking in daily food,
16.and one of you should say to them, “Go in peace; be warm and filled,” but you do not give them the things necessary for the body, what good is it?
17. So, too, faith by itself, if it have no works, is dead.
18. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” You show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and tremble.
20. But are you willing to know, O fruitless man, that faith without works is dead?
21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works after he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22. Do you see that faith was working together with his works and that faith was perfected by his works?
23. And so, the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.[1]
24. See, then, by works a man is justified, and not by faith only!
25. And likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and then sent them out by another way?
26. Therefore, just as the body without a spirit is dead, so also, faith without works is dead.
¶1. Do not be many teachers, my brothers, seeing that we shall receive stricter judgment.
2. For we all offend in many ways. If someone does not offend in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
3. Behold, we put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we guide their whole body.
4. Behold, even ships, though so large and driven by fierce winds, are steered by a small rudder, wherever the pilot determines.
5. So also, the tongue is a small member, and yet it makes great boasts. Behold, how great a forest a small fire sets ablaze!
6. Indeed, the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is so situated among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the wheel of life, and it is set on fire by Gehenna.[2]
7. For every species of beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by the human species,
8.but no one among men can tame the tongue; it is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison.
9. With it, we bless God, even the Father, and with it, we curse men who are created in God’s likeness.
10. Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, ought not to be.
11. A fountain does not issue sweet and bitter water from the same opening, does it?
12. A fig tree cannot bear olives, can it, my brothers? or a grapevine, figs? Just so, no fountain yields salt water and fresh.
¶13. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him by good conduct show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
14. If you have bitter envy and strife in your heart, do not glory in spite of it and, so, lie against the truth.
15. This wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16. For where envy and strife are, there is disorder and every base thing.
17. But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who produce peace.
¶1. From where are the conflicts and quarrels among you? Are they not from this, from your passions that war in your members?
2. You covet, but you do not have. You kill and you envy, but you cannot obtain. You quarrel and fight, but you do not have because you do not ask.
3. You ask, but you do not receive because you ask wickedly, that you might squander it on your pleasures.
4. You adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity against God? Therefore, whoever would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5. Or do you suppose that the scripture says in vain, “The spirit that dwells in us longs for envy”?
6. But He gives greater grace; therefore, it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7. Submit, therefore, to God. Resist the Accuser, and he will flee from you.
8. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded!
9. Be miserable, and mourn, and weep! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection!
10. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up!
¶11. Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. He who speaks evil of a brother and condemns his brother, speaks evil of the law and condemns the law. And if you condemn the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12. There is one law-giver, who is able to save and to destroy. Then, who are you that condemns another?
¶13. Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city, and work there for a year, and buy and sell and make a profit,”
14.whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while, and then dissipates.
15. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord will, then we will live, and do this or that.”
16. But as it is, you are boasting in your presumptions. All such boasting is evil.
17. Now, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
¶1. Come now, you rich men! Weep! howling for your impending miseries!
2. Your wealth is rotted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3. Your gold and silver are corroded; their rust will be a witness against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days.
4. Behold, the wages of the laborers who harvested your fields, which were fraudulently withheld by you, cry out, and the cries of the reapers have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5. You have lived in luxury on the earth, and in self-indulgence. You have nourished your hearts as for a day of slaughter.
6. You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous man, who does not resist you.
¶7. Now then, be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, patiently waiting for it until it receives the early and the latter rain.
8. You be patient, too. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9. Do not murmur against one another, brothers, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the gates.
10. Take, my brothers, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering hardships and of patience.
11. Behold, we consider them happy who are enduring. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the outcome from the Lord, that He is compassionate and merciful.
¶12. Above all, my brothers, do not swear, neither by heaven nor by earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, lest you fall into hypocrisy.
¶13. Is anyone among you suffering hardships? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the congregation, and let them pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,
15.and the prayer of faith will heal the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; moreover, if he have committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16. Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you might be healed. The prayer of a righteous man can avail much when it is at work.
17. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18. And then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
¶19. Brothers, if anyone among you is led astray from the truth and someone turns him back,
20.let him know that he who turns the sinner from his wandering way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
[1] Isa. 41:8.
[2] The word Gehenna is often mistranslated as “hell”, but it actually refers to what John called in Revelation “the Lake of Fire”. See What the Bible Really Says about Hell, available for online reading at GoingtoJesus.com.