James
From James, a servant of God and of the lord Jesus Messiah,to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion, scattered in various parts of the world:
Greetings.
Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face various trials,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance perfect its work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives to all freely
and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you.
But ask in faith
without doubting, because a doubter is like a wave of the sea, blown and
tossed about by the wind.
Such a person should not expect to
receive anything from the Lord,
being of two minds and unstable in
everything.
Let the brothers and sisters in humble circumstances take pride in their high
standing.
And the rich should take pride in their low standing, because they will
fade away like wildflowers.
When the heat of the sun burns the wildflowers, they
dry up and their beauty perishes. In the same way, rich people will wither
away in the midst of their activities.
Blessed are those who endure testing, because when they have passed the test they will receive the crown of Life which God has promised to those
who love Him.
No one facing temptation should say, “I am being
tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He
Himself tempt anyone.
But everyone is tempted by the lure and trap of their
own desires.
Those desires conceive and give birth to sin, which then grows up and gives birth to death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, who is without change or turning shadow.
He gave birth to us by the Gospel-word of truth, according to His own plan, so that we would be
the first fruits of His new creation.
So then, my beloved brothers and sisters, understand this: let everyone
be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry,
because God’s
righteousness does not work through human anger.
So put away all
filthiness and wickedness, and with humility allow the Gospel-word planted
in you to save you.
But be doers of that word, and not only hearers,
so deceiving yourselves.
Someone who hears the Gospel-word but does not obey it is like a
person who examines his face in a mirror
and walks away, immediately
forgetting what he looked like.
But one who examines the perfect law of
freedom and perseveres in it — who does not become a forgetful listener
but one who obeys it — that person will be blessed in what he does.
If any consider themselves to be religious and do not
control their tongues but deceive themselves, their religion is useless.
Pure and undefiled religion before the God and Father is this: to take care of
orphans and widows in their suffering, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the
world-system.
James