James 1
1
Greeting
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
Trials of Faith
2 Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you undergo various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God, the One who gives to all generously and without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the shifting winds. 7 For that man* must not think that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, inconsistent in all his ways.
9 Now let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a flower of the grass. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and parches the grass; and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who endures trial, because when he is approved, he will receive the crown of life which He has promised to those who love Him.
Temptations to Sin
13 No one who is being tempted should say, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil,* and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his* own desire. 15 Then desire, once it has conceived, brings forth sin; and sin, when it has attained its full measure, gives birth to death.
Good Giving and Perfect Gift from God
16 Do not be misled, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 By His own will, He gave birth to us through the word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
Hearing and Doing God’s Word
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: Every man must be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, put away all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your* souls.
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves, 23 because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one is like a man who observes his own natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what sort of man he was. 25 But the one who closely examines the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, not being a forgetful hearer* but a doer of the work, will be blessed in his doing.
Pure and Undefiled Religion
26 If anyone thinks he is religious, yet does not bridle* his tongue but deceives his heart, this one’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Notes
7 Or person, as the term is generically understood. So also v. 19
13 Greek evils
14 Greek the . In this context, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, hence the translation his
21 Some ancient manuscripts replace your with our
25 Greek a hearer of forgetfulness
26 Or control
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James 1: AFINTLIT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
