James 1:17–27

¹⁷Every good thing given and every perfect gift is ^afrom above, coming down from ^bthe Father of lights, ^cwith whom there is no variation or ¹shifting shadow.

¹⁸In the exercise of ^aHis will He ^bbrought us forth by ^cthe word of truth, so that we would be ¹a kind of ^dfirst fruits ²among His creatures.

Doers of the Word

^191aKnow this, ^bmy beloved brothers. But everyone must be quick to hear, ^cslow to speak and ^dslow to anger;

²⁰for ^athe anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

²¹Therefore, ^alaying aside all filthiness and all ¹that remains of wickedness, in gentleness receive ^bthe implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

^22aBut become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his ¹natural face ^ain a mirror;

²⁴for once he looked at himself and has gone away, ¹he immediately forgot what kind of person he was.

²⁵But one who looks intently at the perfect law, ^athe law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be ^bblessed in ¹what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not ^1abridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

²⁷Pure and undefiled religion ^abefore our God and Father is this: to ^bvisit ^corphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained ¹by ^dthe world.