James 1–2

Chapter 1

Testing Your Faith

^11aJames, a ^bbond-servant of God and ^cof the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^dthe twelve tribes who are ^2edispersed abroad: ^fGreetings.

^2aConsider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter ^bvarious ¹trials,

³knowing that ^athe testing of your ^bfaith produces ^1cendurance.

⁴And let ^1aendurance have its perfect ²result, so that you may be ^3bperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵But if any of you ^alacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and ¹without reproach, and ^bit will be given to him.

⁶But he must ^aask in faith ^bwithout any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, ^cdriven and tossed by the wind.

⁷For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

⁸being a ^1adouble-minded man, ^bunstable in all his ways.

^9aBut the ¹brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

¹⁰and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because ^alike ¹flowering grass he will pass away.

¹¹For the sun rises with ^1aa scorching wind and ^bwithers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

^12aBlessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has ¹been approved, he will receive ^bthe crown of life which the Lord ^chas promised to those who ^dlove Him.

¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “^aI am being tempted ¹by God”; for God cannot be tempted ²by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

¹⁵Then ^awhen lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when ^bsin ¹is accomplished, it brings forth death.

^16aDo not be ¹deceived, ^bmy beloved brethren.

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.

¹⁹¹This ^ayou know, ^bmy beloved brethren. 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, ^aputting aside all filthiness and all ¹that remains of wickedness, in ²humility receive ^bthe word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

^22aBut prove yourselves 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 has looked at himself and gone away, ¹he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

²⁵But one who looks intently at the perfect law, ^athe law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but ¹an effectual doer, this man will be ^bblessed in ²what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not ^1abridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

²⁷Pure and undefiled religion ^ain the sight of our God and Father is this: to ^bvisit ^corphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained ¹by ^dthe world.

Chapter 2

The Sin of Partiality

^1aMy brethren, ^bdo not hold your faith in our ^cglorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of ^dpersonal favoritism.

²For if a man comes into your ¹assembly with a gold ring and dressed in ^2afine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in ^bdirty clothes,

³and you ¹pay special attention to the one who is wearing the ^afine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”

⁴have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges ^awith evil ¹motives?

⁵Listen, ^amy beloved brethren: did not ^bGod choose the poor ¹of this world to be ^crich in faith and ^dheirs of the kingdom which He ^epromised to those who love Him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and ¹personally ^adrag you into ²court?

^7aDo they not blaspheme the fair name ¹by which you have been called?

⁸If, however, you ^aare fulfilling the ¹royal law according to the Scripture, “^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

⁹But if you ^ashow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the ¹law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole ¹law and yet ^astumbles in one point, he has become ^bguilty of all.

¹¹For He who said, “^aDo not commit adultery,” also said, “^bDo not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the ¹law.

¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by ^athe law of liberty.

¹³For ^ajudgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy ¹triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works

^14aWhat use is it, ^bmy brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can ¹that faith save him?

^15aIf a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “^aGo in peace, ¹be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

¹⁷Even so ^afaith, if it has no works, is ¹dead, being by itself.

^18aBut someone ¹may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your ^bfaith without the works, and I will ^cshow you my faith ^dby my works.”

¹⁹You believe that ^1aGod is one. ^bYou do well; ^cthe demons also believe, and shudder.

²⁰But are you willing to recognize, ^ayou foolish fellow, that ^bfaith without works is useless?

^21aWas not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

²²You see that ^afaith was working with his works, and ¹as a result of the ^bworks, faith was ²perfected;

²³and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “^aAnd Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called ^bthe friend of God.

²⁴You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not ^aRahab the harlot also justified by works ^bwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also ^afaith without works is dead.