James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greeting to the twelve tribes that are scattered over the world.

for you know that the testing of your faith leads to steadfastness,

and steadfastness must have full play, so that you may be fully and perfectly developed without any defects.

For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, and the flowers wither, and all their beauty is gone. That is the way rich men will fade and die in the midst of their pursuits.

No one should think when he is tempted that his temptation comes from God, for God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil, and he does not tempt anyone.

When anyone is tempted, it is by his own desire that he is enticed and allured.

Of his own accord he brought us into being through the message of truth, so that we might be a kind of first-fruits among his creatures.

So strip yourselves of everything that soils you, and of every evil growth, and in a humble spirit let the message that has the power to save your souls be planted in your hearts.

For anyone who merely listens to the message without obeying it is like a man who looks in a mirror at the face that nature gave him,

But whoever looks at the faultless law that makes men free and keeps looking, so that he does not just listen and forget, but obeys and acts upon it, will be blessed in what he does.

A religious observance that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their trouble, and keep one's self unstained by the world.

have you not wavered and shown that your judgments are guided by base motives?

Listen, my dear brothers. Has not God chosen the world's poor to be rich in faith, and to possess the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

You must talk and act like men who expect to be judged by the law that treats men as free.

But do you want proof, my senseless friend, that faith without good deeds amounts to nothing?

You see that in his case faith and good deeds worked together; faith found its highest expression in good deeds,

and so the Scripture came true that says, "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness, and he was called God's friend."

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

For we all make many mistakes. Anyone who never makes a mistake in what he says has a character that is fully developed and is able to control his whole body as well.

What wise, intelligent man is there among you? Let him show by his good life that what he does is done in the humility of wisdom.

The wisdom that is from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, considerate, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds, whole-hearted, straightforward.

You renegades! Do you not know that the friendship of the world means enmity with God? So whoever wishes to be the world's friend declares himself God's enemy.

This, instead of saying, "If it is the Lord's will, we shall live to do this or that."

Come now, you rich people! weep aloud and howl over the miseries that are going to overtake you!

So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be cured. An upright man can do a great deal by prayer when he tries.

Elijah was a man like us, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and for three years and six months there was no rain in the land.

you may be sure that whoever brings a sinner back from his misguided way will save the man's soul from death, and cover up a host of sins.