1FROM JAMES,
a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Greetings to the Twelve Tribes dispersed throughout the world.
2My brothers, whenever you have to face trials of many kinds, count yourselves supremely happy, 3in the knowledge that such testing of your faith breeds fortitude, 4and if you give fortitude full play you will go on to complete a balanced character that will fall short in nothing. 5If any of you falls short in wisdom, he should ask God for it and it will be given him, for God is a generous giver who neither refuses nor reproaches anyone. 6But he must ask in faith, without a doubt in his mind; for the doubter is like a heaving sea ruffled by the wind. 7A man of that kind must not expect the Lord to give him anything; 8he is double-minded, and never can keep a steady course.
9The brother in humble circumstances may well be proud that God lifts him up; 10and the wealthy brother must find his pride in being brought low. For the rich man will disappear like the flower of the field; 11once the sun is up with its scorching heat the flower withers, its petals fall, and what was lovely to look at is lost for ever. So shall the rich man wither away as he goes about his business.
12Happy the man who remains steadfast under trial, for having passed that test he will receive for his prize the gift of life promised to those who love God. 13No one under trial or temptation should say, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God is untouched by evil, and does not himself tempt anyone. 14Temptation arises when a man is enticed and lured away by his own lust; 15then lust conceives, and gives birth to sin; and sin full-grown breeds death.
16Make no mistake, my friends. 17All good giving, every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of the lights of heaven. With him there is no variation, no play of passing shadows. 18Of his set purpose, by declaring the truth, he gave us birth to be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19Of that you may be certain, my friends. But each of you must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to be angry. 20For a man's anger cannot promote the justice of God. 21Away then with all that is sordid, and the malice that hurries to excess, and quietly accept the message planted in your hearts, which can bring you salvation.
22Only be sure that you act on the message and do not merely listen; for that would be to mislead yourselves. 23A man who listens to the message but never acts upon it is like one who looks in a mirror at the face nature gave him. 24He glances at himself and goes away, and at once forgets what he looked like. 25But the man who looks closely into the perfect law, the law that makes us free, and who lives in its company, does not forget what he hears, but acts upon it; and that is the man who by acting will find happiness.
26A man may think he is religious, but if he has no control over his tongue, he is deceiving himself; that man's religion is futile. 27The kind of religion which is without stain or fault in the sight of God our Father is this: to go to the help of orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself untarnished by the world.
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