James 1
1
1Greetings from James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To God’s people#1:1 God’s people Literally, “the twelve tribes.” Believers in Christ are like the tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. who are scattered all over the world.
Faith and Wisdom
2My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. 3You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. 4If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.
5Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom. 6But when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind. 7-8People like that are thinking two different things at the same time. They can never decide what to do. So they should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.
True Riches
9Believers who are poor should be glad that God considers them so important. 10Believers who are rich should be glad when bad things happen that humble them. Their riches won’t keep them from disappearing as quickly as wildflowers. 11As the sun rises and gets hotter, its heat dries up the plants, and the flowers fall off. The flowers that were so beautiful are now dead. That’s how it is with the rich. While they are still making plans for their business, they will die.
Temptation Does Not Come From God
12Great blessings belong to those who are tempted and remain faithful! After they have proved their faith, God will give them the reward#1:12 reward Literally, “wreath,” a ring of leaves or branches that was placed on the head of the winners of athletic contests to honor them. It was a symbol of victory and reward. of eternal life. God promised this to all people who love him. 13Whenever you feel tempted to do something bad, you should not say, “God is tempting me.” Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. 14You are tempted by the evil things you want. Your own desire leads you away and traps you. 15Your desire grows inside you until it results in sin. Then the sin grows bigger and bigger and finally ends in death.
16My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled about this. 17Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created.
Listening and Obeying
19My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger. 20Anger does not help you live the way God wants. 21So get rid of everything evil in your lives—every kind of wrong you do. Be humble and accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts. This teaching can save you.
22Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. 23Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror 24and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. 25But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard.
The True Way to Worship God
26You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. 27The worship that God wants is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help and keeping yourself free from the world’s evil influence. This is the kind of worship that God accepts as pure and good.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Jacob (James) 1
1
Greetings
1Jacob, a slave of God and of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, To the twelve tribes in the Diaspora: Shalom!
Rejoice in Trials
2Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
6But let him ask in faith, without any doubting—for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord—
8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9But let the brother in humble circumstances boast in his high position—
10and the rich person in his humble position, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away.
11For the sun arises with a scorching heat and withers the grass, and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed. So also the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.
12Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him.
13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”—for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He himself tempts no one.
14But each one is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire.
15Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is full grown, it brings forth death.
16Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.
17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
18By His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.
Quick to Listen, Slow to Anger
19Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger—
20for human anger doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
21So put away all moral filth and excess of evil and receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror—
24for once he looks at himself and goes away, he immediately forgets what sort of person he was.
25But the one who looks intently into the perfect Torah, the Torah that gives freedom, and continues in it, not becoming a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts—he shall be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone thinks he is religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is futile.
27Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
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