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

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;

(1:7) unreliable in every step he takes, must not expect to get anything from the Lord.

Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position [as a born-again believer, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God];

And the wealthy person [should be happy] that he is humbled [by God], because he will pass away like a flower [blossoming] from grass.

Blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] is the man who is steadfast under trial and perseveres when tempted; for when he has passed the test and been approved, he will receive the [victor’s] crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

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].

Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving];

For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls.

But you should not deceive yourselves by just listening [to God's word] instead of doing what the word teaches.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

My brothers, stop trying to maintain your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious presence of God on earth, along with acts of partiality to certain ones.

And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

do they not themselves speak evil of the good name that was called upon you?

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

But if you show favoritism toward [certain] persons, you are committing a sin and are convicted by the law [of God] as lawbreakers.

For, whoever observes the entire law [of God] and yet breaks one requirement [of it], becomes guilty of [breaking] all of it.

For God, who said [through Moses, Ex. 20:13f], "You must not be sexually unfaithful to your mate," also said, "You must not murder." Now if you are sexually faithful to your mate and yet murder [someone], you have become a lawbreaker.

What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.]

and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do?

In the same way, if [your] faith does not have [good] deeds [to accompany it], it is dead, [because it stands] alone.

But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].”

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?

Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]?

You see that [his] faith was working together with his works, and as a result of the works, his faith was completed [reaching its maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience].

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].

In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works too, when she received the [Hebrew] spies as guests and protected them, and sent them away [to escape] by a different route?

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without [good] deeds is dead.

And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies.

Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

Does a spring give both good and bad water from the same source?

Is a fig-tree able to give us olives, my brothers, or do we get figs from a vine, or sweet water from the salt sea?

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

But if you have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true.

This "wisdom" is not the kind that comes from [God] above, but is earthly, unspiritual and demonic [i.e., it is motivated by an evil spirit and not the Holy Spirit].

For where envy is, and the desire to get the better of others, there is no order, but every sort of evil-doing.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

And the seed whose fruit is righteousness (spiritual maturity) is sown in peace by those who make peace [by actively encouraging goodwill between individuals].

You covet things and yet cannot get them; you commit murder; you have passionate desires and yet cannot gain your end; you begin to fight and make war. You have not, because you do not pray;

You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us?

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Be miserable and grieve and weep [over your sin]. Let your [foolish] laughter be turned to mourning and your [reckless] joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and he will lift you up.

Do not slander one another, brothers, [for] the person who speaks against his brother, or judges him, is [guilty of] speaking against the law [of God]. But when you judge the law, you are not obeying it but acting as its judge.

There is only One Lawgiver and Judge [i.e., God or Christ]. It is He who is able to save and destroy [people]. So, who [do you think] you are, judging your neighbor?

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Look, the wages you have fraudulently refused to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out [against you]. And the cries of these harvest hands have reached the ears of the Lord of [heavenly] armies [i.e., Almighty God].

You have condemned, you have murdered, the Righteous One! Must not God be opposed to you?

Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.

don't repine, my brethren, against one another, for fear you should be condemn'd. behold, the judge is at the gate.

Notice that we consider those who endured [suffering with patience] to be blessed [by God]. You people have heard of Job's patience and have seen what the Lord finally did [for him]. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Doth any one suffer evil among you? let him pray; is any of good cheer? let him sing psalms;

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 if their prayer is [offered] by faith, [God] will heal the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up [from his sickbed]. And if he had sinned, he will be forgiven for them [Note: This may imply that the man's sickness was the result of some sin. In any event, his forgiveness would follow his repentance].

So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and falls into error and [another] one turns him back [to God],