James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.

You must consider it the purest joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials,

Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.

a man is instigated, and drawn into the snare by his own vicious passions, which once indulg'd, are productive of sin,

all we are given is good, and all our endowments are faultless, descending from above, from the Father of the heavenly lights, who knows no change of rising and setting, who casts no shadow on the earth.

It was God's purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of "firstfruits" of those He created. [Note: "Firstfruits" here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God's creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].

If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives himself, his religious observances are of no account.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

My brethren, you must not make distinctions between one man and another while you are striving to maintain faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our glory.

For if a man comes into your meeting place wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in,

And you are deferential to the man who is wearing grand clothes, and say--"There is a good seat for you here," but to the poor man--"You must stand; or sit down there by my footstool,"

then are ye not partial among yourselves, and become judges from evil thoughts?

Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?

But you, in contrast, have humiliated the poor man. Are not the rich men those who oppress you and drag you to court?

Do not they blaspheme the honorable name by which ye are called?

But if you really observe the law of the King in accordance with the Scripture, "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself," you are doing right;

but if you show partiality, you are committing sin, because you are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

For He who said, "You must not commit adultery," also said, "You must not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but you do commit murder, you are just the same a lawbreaker.

So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty.

and one of you says to him, "Blessings on you, keep warm, eat until you have aplenty," without giving him the things that are needed for the body, what good does it do?

Some one, indeed, may say--"You are a man of faith, and I am a man of action." "Then show me your faith," I reply, "apart from any actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions."

You believe that God is one, and you are quite right: evil spirits also believe this, and shudder."

But, O senseless man, are you willing to learn that faith without good deeds is worthless?

Many of you, my brothers, should avoid becoming teachers, because you know that we teachers are going to be judged with stricter judgment than other people.

For, oft, are we stumbling, one and all: If anyone, in word, doth not stumble, the same, is a mature man, able to curb even the whole body.

you see how manageable horses are made by the application of a bit, which makes them take what motion we please.

Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth.

so the tongue is but a small part of the body, yet how grand are its pretensions. a spark of fire! what quantities of timber will it blow into a flame?

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

Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God:

In a fountain, are fresh water and bitter sent forth from the same opening?

Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him show by his noble living that his good deeds are done in humility, which wisdom prompts.

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

For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed.

The harvest of uprightness is grown from the seed of peace by those who are peacemakers.

From where are wars and fightings among you? Is it not from here: from your pleasures warring in your body-parts?

You continually crave and do not obtain; you are killing and coveting and cannot acquire; you are fighting and at war. You do not have, because you do not ask.

You continue to ask and do not receive, because you are asking with a wrong purpose, in order to spend it upon your pleasures.

O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.

But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].”

Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people].

Speak not against each other, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against law and judges law. But if thou judge law, thou are not a doer of law, but a judge.

There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy, but thou, who are thou who judge the other man?

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a city and stay a year, go into business and make money,"

whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

But the right thing to say would be, If it is the Lord's pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.

But now you are glorying in these insolent boastings of yours; all such glorying is evil.

Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.

Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.

Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days.

See, the wages that you have kept back from the laborers who reaped your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

Do not murmur against one another, brothers, lest you are judged; look, the Judge is standing at the very door!

We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months.