James 1
1
Greeting
1James, # Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3; Ac 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; Gl 1:19; 2:9,12; Jd 1 a slave of God # Ac 16:17; Rm 1:1; Eph 6:6; Jms 1:1; 1Pt 2:16; Rv 1:1 and of the Lord Jesus Christ:
To the 12 tribes # Gn 49:28; Ex 24:4; Ezk 47:13; Mt 19:28; Ac 26:7; Rv 21:12 in the Dispersion. # Jewish people scattered throughout Gentile lands who spoke Gk and were influenced by Gk culture. # Jn 7:35; 1Pt 1:1
Greetings. # Ti 1:1
Trials and Maturity
2Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, # Mt 5:12; 1Pt 1:6 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. # 1Kg 3:9; Pr 2:3-6; Mt 7:7 6But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8An indecisive # Or A doubting, or A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. # Jms 4:8; 2Pt 2:14
9The brother of humble circumstances should boast in his exaltation, 10but the one who is rich should boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field. # 1Co 7:31; 1Pt 1:24 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will wither away while pursuing his activities. # Ps 102:4,11; Is 40:7
12A man who endures trials # Lit trial, used as a collective is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown # 1Co 9:25; 2Tm 4:8; 1Pt 5:4; Rv 2:10; 3:11 of life that God # Other mss read that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. # Mt 10:22; Jms 2:5
13No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, # Or evil persons, or evil things and He Himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. # Pr 7:6-23 15Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. # Jb 15:35; Ps 7:14; Is 59:4; Rm 6:23
16Don’t be deceived, my dearly loved brothers. # 1Co 6:9; Jms 1:19 17Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. # Nm 23:19; Mal 3:6; Jn 3:27; 1Jn 1:5 18By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth # = the gospel so that we would be the firstfruits of His creatures. # Jn 1:13; Eph 1:12
Hearing and Doing the Word
19My dearly loved brothers, understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, # Pr 10:19; 17:27; Ec 5:1-2 20for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil, # Lit evil excess humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you. # Lit save your souls # Eph 1:13; 4:22; Col 3:8
22But # Mt 7:24-27; Rm 2:13; Jms 2:14-20 be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face # Lit at the face of his birth in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works — this person will be blessed in what he does. # Jn 13:17; Jms 2:12
26If anyone # Other mss add among you thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, # Ps 34:13; 39:1; 141:3; Jms 3:2-3; 1Pt 3:10 then his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27Pure and undefiled religion before our # Or before the God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows # Jb 31:17; Is 1:17,23; Mt 25:36 in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. # Rm 12:2; 1Jn 5:18
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James 1: HCSB
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
James 1
1
1From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To all of God’s people who are scattered everywhere in the world:
Greetings.
Faith and Wisdom
2My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, 3because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. 4Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you need. 5But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous to everyone and will give you wisdom without criticizing you. 6But when you ask God, you must believe and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind. 7-8Such doubters are thinking two different things at the same time, and they cannot decide about anything they do. They should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.
True Riches
9Believers who are poor should take pride that God has made them spiritually rich. 10Those who are rich should take pride that God has shown them that they are spiritually poor. The rich will die like a wild flower in the grass. 11The sun rises with burning heat and dries up the plants. The flower falls off, and its beauty is gone. In the same way the rich will die while they are still taking care of business.
Temptation Is Not from God
12When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After they have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever. God promised this to all those who love him. 13When people are tempted, they should not say, “God is tempting me.” Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. 14But people are tempted when their own evil desire leads them away and traps them. 15This desire leads to sin, and then the sin grows and brings death.
16My dear brothers and sisters, do not be fooled about this. 17Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows. 18God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made.
Listening and Obeying
19My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily, 20because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants. 21So put out of your life every evil thing and every kind of wrong. Then in gentleness accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts, which can save you.
22Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves. 23Those who hear God’s teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror. 24They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like. 25But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy.
The True Way to Worship God
26People who think they are religious but say things they should not say are just fooling themselves. Their “religion” is worth nothing. 27Religion that God accepts as pure and without fault is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help, and keeping yourself free from the world’s evil influence.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.