James, Chapter 1

1. James, a servant, of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, -- unto the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion, Wishes joy.    2. All Joy, account it, my brethren, whensoever ye fall in with, manifold, temptations, --    3. Taking note, that, the proving of your faith, worketh out endurance;    4. But let, your endurance, have, mature work, that ye may be mature and complete, in nothing, coming short.    5. But, if any of you is sinning short of wisdom, let him be asking of God, Who giveth unto all freely and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him;    6. But let him be asking in faith, nothing, doubting, for, he that doubteth, is like a wave of the sea, wind-driven and storm-tossed, --    7. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord --    8. A two-souled man, unstable in all his ways.    9. But boasting be the lowly brother in his uplifting;    10. Whereas the rich, in his being brought low, -- because, as a flower of grass, he will pass away;    11. For the sun hath sprung up, with it scorching heat, and hath withered the grass, and, the flower thereof, hath fallen out, and, the beauty of the face thereof, hath perished, -- so, also the rich, in his goings, shall languish.    12. Happy the man who endureth temptation! Because, becoming approved, he shall receive the crown of life -- which he hath promised unto them that love him.    13. Let, no one, while tempted, be saying -- From God, am I tempted, -- for, God, cannot be tempted by things evil, and, himself, tempteth no one;    14. But, each one, is tempted, when, by his own coveting, he is drawn out and enticed,    15. Then, the coveting, having conceived, giveth birth to sin, and, the sin, when full-grown, bringeth forth death.    16. Be not deceived, my brethren beloved: --    17. Every good giving, and every perfect gift, is, from above, coming down from the Father of lights -- with whom is no alternation, nor shadow cast, by turning:    18. Because he was so minded, he hath brought us forth with a word of truth, to the end we should be a sort of firstfruit of his creatures    19. Ye know, my brethren beloved, -- but let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,    20. For, man's anger, worketh not, God's righteousness.    21. Wherefore, putting away all filthiness and overflow of baseness, in meekness, welcome ye the word fitted for inward growth, which is able to save your souls:    22. Become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only -- reasoning yourselves astray;    23. Because, if any is, a word-hearer, and not a doer, the same, is like unto a man observing his natural face in a mirror, --    24. For he observed himself, and is gone away, and, straightway, it hath escaped him, -- what manner of man, he was!    25. But, he that hath obtained a nearer view into the perfect law of liberty, and hath taken up his abode by it, becoming -- not a forgetful hearer, but a work doer, the same, happy in his doing, shall be.    26. If any thinketh he is observant of religion, not curbing his own tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this one's, religious observance is, vain:    27. Religious observance, pure and undefiled with our God and Father, is, this -- to be visiting orphans and widows in their affliction, unspotted, to keep, himself, from the world.