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.