James 1
1
Salutation
1 #
Matt 13.55; Mark 6.3; Acts 15.13; Gal 1.19. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,
Greeting.
Faith and Humility
2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10#Isa 40.6,7. but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
Trial and Temptation
12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished,#1.15 finished or full-grown. bringeth forth death.
16Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
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James 1: KJVAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
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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