James 1
1
Greeting
1From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To God’s faithful people #1:1 Or “to the twelve tribes.” who have been scattered.
Greetings.
When You Are Tested, Turn to God
2My brothers and sisters, be very happy when you are tested in different ways. 3You know that such testing of your faith produces endurance. 4Endure until your testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete, and you won’t need anything.
5If any of you needs wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you. God is generous to everyone and doesn’t find fault with them. 6When you ask for something, don’t have any doubts. A person who has doubts is like a wave that is blown by the wind and tossed by the sea. 7A person who has doubts shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can’t make up his mind about anything.
9Humble believers should be proud because being humble makes them important. 10Rich believers should be proud because being rich should make them humble. Rich people will wither like flowers. 11The sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up plants. The flowers drop off, and the beauty is gone. The same thing will happen to rich people. While they are busy, they will die.
12Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13When someone is tempted, he shouldn’t say that God is tempting him. God can’t be tempted by evil, and God doesn’t tempt anyone. 14Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him. 15Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death.
16My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled. 17Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn’t change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.
18God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us his most important creatures.
19Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and should not get angry easily. 20An angry person doesn’t do what God approves of. 21So get rid of all immoral behavior and all the wicked things you do. Humbly accept the word that God has placed in you. This word can save you.
22Do what God’s word says. Don’t merely listen to it, or you will fool yourselves. 23If someone listens to God’s word but doesn’t do what it says, he is like a person who looks at his face in a mirror, 24studies his features, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25However, the person who continues to study God’s perfect laws that make people free and who remains committed to them will be blessed. People like that don’t merely listen and forget; they actually do what God’s laws say.
26If a person thinks that he is religious but can’t control his tongue, he is fooling himself. That person’s religion is worthless. 27Pure, unstained religion, according to God our Father, is to take care of orphans and widows when they suffer and to remain uncorrupted by this world.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
James 1
1
1#James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: a declaration of the writer’s authority for instructing the Christian communities; cf. Rom 1:1. Regarding the identity of the author, see Introduction. Dispersion: see Introduction. James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.#Jn 7:35; 1 Pt 1:1.
II. THE VALUE OF TRIALS AND TEMPTATION
Perseverance in Trial. 2#Rom 5:3–5; 1 Pt 1:6; 4:13–16. Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,#Consider it all joy…various trials: a frequent teaching of the New Testament derived from the words and sufferings of Jesus (Mt 5:10–12; Jn 10:11; Acts 5:41). 3for you know that the testing#The sequence of testing, perseverance, and being perfect and complete indicates the manner of attaining spiritual maturity and full preparedness for the coming of Christ (Jas 5:7–12; cf. 1 Pt 1:6–7; Rom 5:3–5). These steps require wisdom (Jas 1:5). of your faith produces perseverance. 4And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5But if any of you lacks wisdom,#Wisdom: a gift that God readily grants to all who ask in faith and that sustains the Christian in times of trial. It is a kind of knowledge or understanding not accessible to the unbeliever or those who doubt, which gives the recipient an understanding of the real importance of events. In this way a Christian can deal with adversity with great calm and hope (cf. 1 Cor 2:6–12). he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.#Prv 2:2–6; Wis 9:4, 9–12. 6But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.#Mt 7:7; Mk 11:24. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.
9The brother in lowly circumstances#Throughout his letter (see Jas 2:5; 4:10, 13–16; 5:1–6), the author reaffirms the teaching of Jesus that worldly prosperity is not necessarily a sign of God’s favor but can even be a hindrance to proper humility before God (cf. Lk 6:20–25; 12:16–21; 16:19–31). should take pride in his high standing,#2:5. 10and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.”#Is 40:6–7. 11For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Temptation. 12#1 Cor 9:25; 2 Tm 4:8; 1 Pt 5:4; Rev 2:10. Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation,#Temptation: the Greek word used here is the same one used for “trials” in Jas 1:2. The crown of life: in ancient Palestine, crowns or wreaths of flowers were worn at festive occasions as signs of joy and honor. In the Hellenistic world, wreaths were given as a reward to great statesmen, soldiers, athletes. Life: here means eternal life. He promised: some manuscripts read “God” or “the Lord,” while the best witnesses do not specify the subject of “promised.” for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. 13#It is contrary to what we know of God for God to be the author of human temptation (Jas 1:13). In the commission of a sinful act, one is first beguiled by passion (Jas 1:14), then consent is given, which in turn causes the sinful act. When sin permeates the entire person, it incurs the ultimate penalty of death (Jas 1:15). No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one.#Sir 15:11–20; 1 Cor 10:13. 14Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.
16#The author here stresses that God is the source of all good and of good alone, and the evil of temptation does not come from him. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers: 17all good giving and every perfect gift#All good giving and every perfect gift may be a proverb written in hexameter. Father of lights: God is here called the Father of the heavenly luminaries, i.e., the stars, sun, and moon that he created (Gn 1:14–18). Unlike orbs moving from nadir to zenith, he never changes or diminishes in brightness. is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. 18#Jn 1:12–13; 1 Pt 1:23. He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.#Acceptance of the gospel message, the word of truth, constitutes new birth (Jn 3:5–6) and makes the recipient the firstfruits (i.e., the cultic offering of the earliest grains, symbolizing the beginning of an abundant harvest) of a new creation; cf. 1 Cor 15:20; Rom 8:23.
III. EXHORTATIONS AND WARNINGS
Doers of the Word. 19Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear,#To be quick to hear the gospel is to accept it readily and to act in conformity with it, removing from one’s soul whatever is opposed to it, so that it may take root and effect salvation (Jas 1:19–21). To listen to the gospel message but not practice it is failure to improve oneself (Jas 1:22–24). Only conformity of life to the perfect law of true freedom brings happiness (Jas 1:25). slow to speak, slow to wrath,#Prv 14:17; Sir 5:11. 20for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.#Eph 4:26. 21Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.#Col 3:8.
22Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.#Mt 7:26; Rom 2:13. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. 24He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. 25But the one who peers into the perfect law#Peers into the perfect law: the image of a person doing this is paralleled to that of hearing God’s word. The perfect law applies the Old Testament description of the Mosaic law to the gospel of Jesus Christ that brings freedom. of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.#2:12; Ps 19:8; Rom 8:2.
26#A practical application of Jas 1:22 is now made. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue#For control of the tongue, see note on Jas 3:1–12. but deceives his heart, his religion is vain.#3:2; Ps 34:14. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows#In the Old Testament, orphans and widows are classical examples of the defenseless and oppressed. in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.#Ex 22:21.
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