only, let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.

Whoever of you is defective in wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all men without question or reproach, and the gift will be his.

Only, let him ask in faith, with never a doubt; for the doubtful man is like surge of the sea whirled and swayed by the wind;

Let no one who is tried by temptation say, 'My temptation comes from God'; God is incapable of being tempted by evil and he tempts no one.

Everyone is tempted as he is beguiled and allured by his own desire;

It was his own will that we should be born by the Word of the truth, to be a kind of firstfruits among his creatures.

Be sure of that, my beloved brothers. Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to talk, slow to be angry ??20 for human anger does not promote divine righteousness;

Whereas he who gazes into the faultless law of freedom and remains in that position, proving himself to be no forgetful listener but an active agent, he will be blessed in his activity.

My brothers, as you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Glory, pay no servile regard to people.

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

If you really fulfil the royal law laid down by scripture, You must love your neighbour as yourself, well and good;

but if you pay servile regard to people, you commit a sin, and the Law convicts you of transgression.

Speak, act, as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom;

for the judgment will be merciless to the man who has shown no mercy ??whereas the merciful life will triumph in the face of judgment.

Someone will object, 'And you claim to have faith!' Yes, and I claim to have deeds as well; you show me your faith without any deeds, and I will show you by my deeds what faith is!

When our father Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar, was he not justified by what he did?

In his case, you see, faith co-operated with deeds, faith was completed by deeds,

You observe it is by what he does that a man is justified, not simply by what he believes.

So too with Rahab the harlot. Was she not justified by what she did, when she entertained the scouts and got them away by a different road?

My brothers, do not swell the ranks of the teachers; remember, we teachers will be judged with special strictness.

Look at ships too; for all their size and speed under stiff winds, they are turned by a tiny rudder wherever the mind of the steersman chooses.

So the tongue is a small member of the body, but it can boast of great exploits. What a forest is set ablaze by a little spark of fire!

And the tongue is a fire, the tongue proves a very world of mischief among our members, staining the whole of the body and setting fire to the round circle of existence with a flame fed by hell.

For while every kind of beast and bird, of creeping animals and creatures marine, is tameable and has been tamed by mankind,

blessing and cursing stream from the same lips! My brothers, this ought not to be.

Who among you is wise and learned? Let him show by his good conduct, with the modesty of wisdom, what his deeds are.

But if you are cherishing bitter jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on that ??and be false to the truth.

(Wanton creatures! do you not know that the world's friendship means enmity to God? Whoever, then, chooses to be the world's friend, turns enemy to God.

Lament and mourn and weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to depression;

your gold and silver lie rusted over, and their rust will be evidence against you, it will devour your flesh like fire. [Moved to the end of 5:1] You have been storing up treasure in the very last days;

Be patient, then, brothers, till the arrival of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop of the land, biding his time patiently till he gets the autumn and the spring rains;

Above all, my brothers, never swear an oath, either by heaven or by earth or by anything else; let your "yes" be a plain "yes," your "no" a plain "no," lest you incur judgment.

the prayer of faith will restore the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; even the sins he has committed will be forgiven him.

So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed; the prayers of the righteous have a powerful effect.