JAMES
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James, a ser vant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scat tered among the nations:
Greetings.
Trials and Temptations
2 Con sid er it pure joy, my broth ers and sis ters, a when ev er you face tri als of many kinds, 3 be cause you know that the test ing of your faith pro duc es per se ver ance. 4 Let per se ver ance fin ish its work so that you may be ma ture and com plete, not lack ing anything. 5 If any of you lacks wis dom, you should ask God, who gives gen er ous ly to all with out find ing fault, and it will be giv en to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, be cause the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That per son should not ex pect to re ceive any thing from the Lord. 8 Such a per son is dou ble-mind ed and un sta ble in all they do.
9 Be liev ers in hum ble cir cum stanc es ought to take pride in their high po si tion. 10 But the rich should take pride in their hu mil i a tion— since they will pass away like a wild flow er. 11 For the sun ris es with scorch ing heat and with ers the plant; its blos som falls and its beau ty is de stroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their busi ness.
12 Blessed is the one who per se veres under tri al be cause, hav ing stood the test, that per son will re ceive the crown of life that the Lord has prom ised to those who love him.
13 When tempt ed, no one should say,“ God is tempt ing me.” For God can not be tempt ed by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each per son is tempt ed when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, af ter de sire has con ceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’ t be de ceived, my dear broth ers and sis ters. 17 Ev ery good and per fect gift is from above, com ing down from the Father of the heav en ly lights, who does not change like shift ing shad ows. 18 He chose
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to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing
19 My dear broth ers and sis ters, take note of this: Ev ery one should be quick to lis ten, slow to speak and slow to be come an gry, 20 be cause hu man an ger does not produce the righ teous ness that God de sires. 21 There fore, get rid of all mor al filth and the evil that is so prev a lent and hum bly ac cept the word plant ed in you, which can save you.
22 Do not mere ly lis ten to the word, and so de ceive your selves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who lis tens to the word but does not do what it says is like some one who looks at his face in a mir ror 24 and, af ter look ing at him self, goes away and im me diate ly for gets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks in tent ly into the per fect law that gives free dom, and con tin ues in it— not for get ting what they have heard, but do ing it— they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who con sid er them selves re ligious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues de ceive them selves, and their re li gion is worth less. 27 Re li gion that God our Fa ther ac cepts as pure and faultless is this: to look af ter or phans and widows in their dis tress and to keep one self from be ing pol lut ed by the world.
Favoritism Forbidden
My broth ers and sis ters, be liev ers in
2 our glo ri ous Lord Jesus Christ must not show fa vor it ism. 2 Sup pose a man comes into your meet ing wear ing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show spe cial at ten tion to the man wear ing 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,” 4 have you not dis crim i nat ed among your selves and become judg es with evil thoughts?
a 2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters
( adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’ s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.