1:1 ①James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are ②dispersed abroad: Greetings.
▷ ①Or Jacob ②Lit in the Dispersion
1:2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various ①trials,
▷ ①Or temptations
1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces ①endurance.
▷ ①Or steadfastness
1:4 And let ①endurance have its perfect ②result, so that you may be ③perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
▷ ①Or steadfastness ②Lit work ③Or mature
1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and ①without reproach, and it will be given to him.
▷ ①Lit does not reproach
1:6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
1:7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
1:8 being a ①double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
▷ ①I.e., a chronic doubter
1:9 Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;
1:10 but the rich person is to glory in his ①humiliation, because like ②flowering grass he will pass away.
▷ ①Or downfall ②Lit the flower of the grass
1:11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.
1:12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has ①been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
▷ ①Or passed the test
1:13 No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted ①by God”; for God cannot be tempted ②by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
▷ ①Lit from ②Lit of evil things
1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.
1:16 Do not be ①deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.
▷ ①Or misled
1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or ①shifting shadow.
▷ ①Lit shadow of turning
1:18 In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be ①a kind of first fruits ②among His creatures.
▷ ①Or a certain first fruits ②Lit of
1:19 ①You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
▷ ①Or Know this
1:20 for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.
1:21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all ①that remains of wickedness, in ②humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
▷ ①Lit abundance of malice ②Or gentleness
1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.
1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his ①natural face in a mirror;
▷ ①Lit the face of his birth; or nature
1:24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, ①he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
▷ ①Lit and he
1:25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but ①an active doer, this person will be blessed in ②what he does.
▷ ①Lit a doer of a work ②Lit his doing
1:26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not ①bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
▷ ①Or control
1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained ①by the world.
▷ ①Lit from