"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

"Rejoice and exult in it, because your reward was great in the heavens; for so did they persecute the prophets before you.

"So whoever breaks one of these least commandments, and teaches others to break them, will be least in the kingdom of heaven. But he who keeps them and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. "For I assure you that unless your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not find entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

but I say to you that he who becomes angry with his brother shall be liable to condemnation by the court; and he who says to his brother 'Raca,' shall be liable to condemnation by the Sanhedrin, while he who curses his brother shall be liable to the Gehenna of Fire.

"Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You must not forswear yourselves, but must perform your vows to the Lord. "But I say to you, swear not at all; neither by the sky, for it is God's throne; read more. "nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. "Nor must you swear by your head, since you cannot make one hair white or black. "But let your word be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the Evil One.

"But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

"You then must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

"You then must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

"For if you forgive men their offenses against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you also; "but if you do not forgive men your offenses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your offenses.

"Store up for yourselves no treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;

"No slave can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will pay heed to the one and despise the other. You cannot be the slaves both of God and of gold.

"Judge not, that you may be judged, yourselves; "for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and in what measure you measure, others will measure to you.

"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. "For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door is opened. read more. "What man of you is there who, when his son asks a loaf, will give him a stone? "or if his son asks for a fish, will offer him a snake? "If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him?

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. "Many in that day will say to me, "'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name done many mighty works?' read more. "Then I will tell them plainly, "'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of iniquity.'

"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and anise and cummin, and neglect the weightier matters of the Law??ustice and mercy and good faith; these latter you ought to have done, and not to have left the former undone.

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent some priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

When they had finished speaking, James said: "Brothers, listen to me. Symeon has told how God first looked graciously upon the Gentiles, to take out from among them a people to be called by his name. read more. "And this is in harmony with the language of the prophets, which says. "After these things I will return, And I will rebuild David's fallen tent; And I will build again its ruins, And I will set it up; "So that the rest of men may seek after the Lord, Even all the Gentiles, who are called by my name, "Says the Lord, who has been making this known from the beginning of the world. "My judgment therefore, is against troubling those who turn to God from among the Gentiles; "but that we should write to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and from fornication, from meat killed by strangling, and from blood. "For Moses from the earliest times has had his preachers in every town where he is read aloud, Sabbath after Sabbath, in the synagogues."

"For it has seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Now if you bear the name of a Jew, and rely upon law, and boast yourself in God, and know his will, and can test the things that differ; if you are instructed out of the Law, read more. and are confident that you yourself are a darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of the young, because you have in the Law the form of knowledge and of the truth??ell then, you who are teaching others, do you ever teach yourself? You who are preaching that a man should not steal, do you practise theft? You who keep saying that a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who hold idols in abhorrence, are you plundering their temples? You who are making your boast in the Law, do you habitually dishonor God through your transgressions of the Law? For the name of God is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as the Scripture itself says. Circumcision does indeed profit, if you are obedient to the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision is become uncircumcision.

And not only so, but we are actually exulting also even in our troubles; for we know that trouble works fortitude,

Do not continue to present any part of your body to sin to be used as a weapon of unrighteousness. On the contrary, be presenting yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and the various parts of your bodies to be used as weapons of righteousness.

but I find a different law in my bodily faculties, waging war with the law of my will, and taking me prisoner to that law of sin which is in my bodily faculties.

Who are you just that judges the household-servant of another? To his own lord he stands or falls. And stand he will, for his Master has power to make him stand.

Every man who prays or prophesies with head veiled dishonors his Head; but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head (her husband). for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven. read more. If a woman does not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair; now if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her be veiled. A man, indeed, ought not to have his head veiled, for he is an image and glory of God; but woman is a glory of man. For it is not man who was made from woman, but woman was made from man. And man was not created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason the woman ought to have authority over her head, because of her guardian angels. However, in the Lord neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman; for just as the woman was made from the man, so also is the man born of the woman, while they both come from God. Judge of this for your own selves. It is fitting that a woman should pray to God with her head unveiled. Nor does nature itself teach you that it is a disgrace to a man to have long hair, but it is woman's glory, because her hair has been given her instead of a veil.

Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If any one thinks himself a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that what I am now writing you is a command of the Lord.

All the brothers send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

It is he who has also made me sufficient as a minister of a new covenant; not of a letter but of a spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit makes alive. If, however, the administration of death, written with letters and engraved on stones, began in glory, so that the children of Israel could not gaze steadily on the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face?? glory even then fading??8 how much more shall the ministry of the Spirit abide in glory?

For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, far more is the ministry of righteousness radiant in glory. Indeed that which once was glorious has lost its glory, because of the glory which surpasses it. read more. For if that which was fading came in glory, far more will that which ever abides be glorious. Therefore, cherishing such a hope, I use great freedom of speech. I do not do as Moses did, who used to cover his face with a veil to keep the children of Israel from beholding the passing of a fading glory. Nay, their minds were made dull; for to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Testament, the same veil rests thereon, because it is not revealed to them that in Christ the veil is taken away. Yes, to this very day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts; but when their heart turns to our Lord the veil is stripped away. (The Lord means the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord abides there is freedom.) And we all, with unveiled faces, reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are ourselves continually being transformed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by the Lord, the Spirit.

because in Christ neither circumcision has any value, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works through love.

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greeting to the twelve tribes that are scattered abroad. My brothers, when you are beset by various temptations, count it all joy,

My brothers, when you are beset by various temptations, count it all joy,

My brothers, when you are beset by various temptations, count it all joy, because you know that the testing of your faith is working out endurance. read more. But let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and entire, not lacking in anything. If any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him ask it from the God who gives to all men freely and without upbraiding; and it will be given to him.

For as the sun comes up with a burning heat, it withers the grass, and its flowers fall, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes; so also shall the rich man fade away amid his pursuits.

When he is being tempted, let no one say, "It is God who tempts me," for God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man.

Because he willed, he gave us birth through the word of truth, so that we should be a kind of first-fruits among his creatures.

for a man's anger does not further the righteous purpose of God.

for a man's anger does not further the righteous purpose of God.

And become doers of the Word, and not merely hearers, deceiving yourselves.

And become doers of the Word, and not merely hearers, deceiving yourselves. Because if any one is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; read more. for after he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and at once forgets what he is like. But the man who looks closely into the perfect law??he law of liberty??nd continues looking, this man will be blessed in his deed because he is not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who does. If a man thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own religion, and undefiled before our God and Father, to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, and ever to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Suppose a man comes into your synagogue with a gold ring and dazzling clothes, and suppose a poor man comes in, also, in shabby clothes,

Suppose a man comes into your synagogue with a gold ring and dazzling clothes, and suppose a poor man comes in, also, in shabby clothes,

Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and to inherit the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?

Are they not blaspheming that glorious Name by which you are called? If you are keeping the royal law, which says, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou dost thyself, you are doing well.

For if a man keeps the whole of the Law, and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all.

For if a man keeps the whole of the Law, and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all.

For judgment is without mercy to the man who has showed no mercy. but mercy glories in the face of judgment.

In just the same way faith, if it have not deeds, is by itself a lifeless thing.

In just the same way faith, if it have not deeds, is by itself a lifeless thing.

Was not Abraham our ancestor justified by deeds, in that he offered up Isaac, his son, upon the altar? You see how faith was cooperating with deeds, and faith was made perfect by deeds. read more. And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, And Abraham believed God, and this was imputed to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, And Abraham believed God, and this was imputed to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, And Abraham believed God, and this was imputed to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend.

So just as the body without a spirit is dead, so faith is dead without deeds.

Do not become many teachers, my brothers, because you know well that we teachers shall be judged by a severer standard than others. For in many respects we often stumble. If any man never stumbles in speech, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

For in many respects we often stumble. If any man never stumbles in speech, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. When we put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we control their whole body also.

When we put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we control their whole body also.

When we put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we control their whole body also. Look at the ships too, though they are so large, even when driven by fierce winds they are turned by a very small rudder, wherever the impulse of the helmsman wills.

Look at the ships too, though they are so large, even when driven by fierce winds they are turned by a very small rudder, wherever the impulse of the helmsman wills.

Look at the ships too, though they are so large, even when driven by fierce winds they are turned by a very small rudder, wherever the impulse of the helmsman wills. So also the tongue is a small member and makes great boasts. Behold, how great a forest is set on fire by a little spark!

So also the tongue is a small member and makes great boasts. Behold, how great a forest is set on fire by a little spark!

So also the tongue is a small member and makes great boasts. Behold, how great a forest is set on fire by a little spark! And the tongue is a fire; it is a very world of iniquity among our members, defiling the whole body, and setting on fire the wheel of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.

And the tongue is a fire; it is a very world of iniquity among our members, defiling the whole body, and setting on fire the wheel of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.

And the tongue is a fire; it is a very world of iniquity among our members, defiling the whole body, and setting on fire the wheel of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For while every kind of beast and bird, and of reptiles and sea-creatures are tamable, and actually have been tamed by mankind,

For while every kind of beast and bird, and of reptiles and sea-creatures are tamable, and actually have been tamed by mankind,

For while every kind of beast and bird, and of reptiles and sea-creatures are tamable, and actually have been tamed by mankind, no man can tame the tongue, restless evil that it is, full of deadly poison.

no man can tame the tongue, restless evil that it is, full of deadly poison.

no man can tame the tongue, restless evil that it is, full of deadly poison. With it we continually bless our Lord and Father, and with it we are accustomed to curse men made in the image of God.

With it we continually bless our Lord and Father, and with it we are accustomed to curse men made in the image of God.

With it we continually bless our Lord and Father, and with it we are accustomed to curse men made in the image of God. From out of the same mouth pour forth blessings and cursings! My brothers, this ought not to be so.

From out of the same mouth pour forth blessings and cursings! My brothers, this ought not to be so.

From out of the same mouth pour forth blessings and cursings! My brothers, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter?

Does a spring pour forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter?

Does a spring pour forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives; or a grape-vine, figs? No more can salt water yield fresh water.

Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives; or a grape-vine, figs? No more can salt water yield fresh water.

Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives; or a grape-vine, figs? No more can salt water yield fresh water. Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him show his deeds by his good life, in the meekness of wisdom.

Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him show his deeds by his good life, in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, do not be boasting of that, and be false to the truth.

But if you have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, do not be boasting of that, and be false to the truth. Such wisdom is not that which is descending from on high, but is earthly, sensual, demonlike. read more. For wherever jealousy and faction exist, there is confusion and every evil deed. But the wisdom which comes from on high is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, conciliatory, overflowing with mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without insincerity.

But the wisdom which comes from on high is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, conciliatory, overflowing with mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is being sown in peace by those who are working peace.

And the fruit of righteousness is being sown in peace by those who are working peace.

Where do the conflicts and quarrels that go on among you come from? Do they not come from your passions which are always making war among your bodily members?

Where do the conflicts and quarrels that go on among you come from? Do they not come from your passions which are always making war among your bodily members?

You adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity to God? Whoever, then, desires to be a friend of the world, makes himself and enemy of God.

But he gives more and more grace. therefore it is said, God ever resists the proud; but to the humble he gives grace continually. So then ever be subject to God, Ever resist the devil and he will flee from you.

So then ever be subject to God, Ever resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Lament and mourn, and weep aloud! Let your laughter be turned into mourning, And your joy into gloom! Humble yourselves before the Lord, And he will raise you up. read more. Do not be talking against each other, brothers. He who is talking against a brother and condemning his brothers is talking against the Law and condemning the Law. But if you are condemning the Law, you are not a doer of the Law, but a judge.

Do not be talking against each other, brothers. He who is talking against a brother and condemning his brothers is talking against the Law and condemning the Law. But if you are condemning the Law, you are not a doer of the Law, but a judge. But One is your Lawgiver and Judge??e who is able to save and to destroy. But you, who are you, to be condemning your neighbor?

But now you are glorying in these insolent boastings of yours; all such glorying is evil. So to him who knows how to do right and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Go to now, you rich men! Weep aloud, howl for the miseries which are about to come upon you! For your riches lie rotting, and your clothing has become moth-eaten.

For your riches lie rotting, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are rusted. and their rust will be for a testimony against you, and it will eat your flesh. For you have been storing up fire in these last days! read more. Look! the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have been keeping back by fraud, are crying aloud! And the cries of the reapers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth!

Look! the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have been keeping back by fraud, are crying aloud! And the cries of the reapers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth! You have lived luxuriously on earth, you have taken your pleasure, you have fattened your hearts for a day of slaughter. read more. You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous man unresisting! Be patient, then, brothers, till the coming of the Lord. Behold the farmer who waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it gets the early and the latter rains.

Be patient, then, brothers, till the coming of the Lord. Behold the farmer who waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it gets the early and the latter rains. So you also must be patient. Stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is at hand!

So you also must be patient. Stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is at hand! Do not make complaints against each other, brothers, lest you yourselves be condemned. Behold the Judge is standing before the very door! read more. Take, my brothers, for an example the suffering and the patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Take, my brothers, for an example the suffering and the patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Remember we count those that were stedfast happy. You have heard of the stedfastness of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord with him, seen how the Lord is full of tenderness. read more. Again, above all things, my brothers, swear not at all, neither by the heavens, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath. Let your "yes" be "yes," and your "no," "no," so you will not fall under condemnation.

Is any in good spirits? Let him sing unto his harp. Is any one of you ill? Let him send for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will restore the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him.

let him know that he who brings a sinner back from the error of his ways, saves his soul from death, and hides a multitude of sins.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bithynia,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose great mercy we have been born anew into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;

Exult in this, though now for a brief moment, if need be, you have suffered many hardships.

For, All flesh is grass And all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass fades, The flower falls,

I beseech you, beloved, as pilgrims and exiles, to abstain from passions of the flesh that war upon your souls. Let your manner of life before the Gentiles be honest; so that, although they are now slandering you as evil-doers, they may, by beholding your noble conduct, come to glorify God, in the day of visitation.

Above everything have fervent love to one another; for love veils a multitude of sins.

Do not think it strange, beloved, that a fiery ordeal has come to test you, as though some surprising thing had befallen you. But be glad in the degree in which you share in the sufferings of Christ; so that when his glory shall be revealed, you too may be glad with triumphant gladness. read more. If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory and of God is resting upon you.

You younger men must submit to the presbyters; and all of you must put on the garment of humility and serve one another, for God resists the haughty, But gives grace to the humble. So humble yourselves under God's mighty hand, so that he may exalt you in due time.

So humble yourselves under God's mighty hand, so that he may exalt you in due time.

So humble yourselves under God's mighty hand, so that he may exalt you in due time.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, knowing well that the same afflictions are being accomplished in your brothers that are in the world.