Greeting to the Twelve Tribes

1 James, aa bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:

Greetings.

Profiting from Trials

2 My brethren, bcount it all joy cwhen you fall into various trials, 3 dknowing that the testing of your faith produces 1patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be 2perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 eIf any of you lacks wisdom, flet him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and git will be given to him. 6 hBut let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is ia double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The Perspective of Rich and Poor

9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because jas a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

Loving God Under Trials

12 kBlessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive lthe crown of life mwhich the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, nwhen desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, obrings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 pEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, qwith whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 rOf His own will He brought us forth by the sword of truth, tthat we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Qualities Needed in Trials

19 3So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, uslow to speak, vslow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Doers—Not Hearers Only

21 Therefore wlay aside all filthiness and 4overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, xwhich is able to save your souls.

22 But ybe doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For zif anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But ahe who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, bthis one will be blessed in what he does.

26 If anyone 5among you thinks he is religious, and cdoes not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 dPure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: eto visit orphans and widows in their trouble, fand to keep oneself unspotted from the world.