1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 My brothers, consider it all joy when you find yourself surrounded by various trials.
3 Know this that the testing of your faith works patience.
4 Let patience have its full, complete work, so that you may be mature and complete (lacking nothing).
5 If any of you lack wisdom, then ask God, who gives to all profusely and doesn't scold, and it will be given to him.
6 But one must ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 Do not let that person think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.
9 And let the brother of humble circumstances rejoice in that he is exalted, Jas 1:10 but the rich in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass, he will perish.
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with its burning heat, and it withers the grass, its flower falls, and its beauty perishes, so also will the rich man fade away.
12 Blessed [is] the man who patiently endures temptation, for when he has passed the test, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt anyone.
14 Everyone is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good act of giving and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom is no variation, neither shadow from turning.
18 By his own will he gave birth to us by the Word of Truth, so that we should be a type of first fruits among his created things.
19 So too my beloved brothers, all must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
20 because the anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore get rid of all moral filthiness and all types of wickedness; receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Be doers of the word, not just hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror.
24 He looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But whoever looks at the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, is not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work. This one will be blessed for his action.
26 If anyone among you seems to be religious and does not control his tongue, he deceives his own heart. This man's religion [is] useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God, even the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself spotless from the world.