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

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.

that man need not imagine he will get anything from God,

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.

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.

Pure, unsoiled religion in the judgment of God the Father means this: to care for orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself from the stain of the world.

if you attend to the wearer of the handsome clothes and say to him, "Sit here, this is a good place," and tell the poor man, "You can stand," or "Sit there at my feet,"

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;

if any of you says to them, "Depart in peace! Get warm, get food," without supplying their bodily needs, what use is that?

You believe in one God? Well and good. So do the devils, and they shudder.

and the scripture was fulfilled: Abraham believed God, and this was counted to him as righteousness ??he was called God's friend.

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?

With the tongue we bless the Lord and Father, and with the tongue we curse men made in God's likeness;

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

You crave, and miss what you want: you envy and covet, but you cannot acquire: you wrangle and fight ??you miss what you want because you do not ask God for it;

you do ask and you do not get it, because you ask with the wicked intention of spending it on your pleasures.

(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.

Yet he gives grace more and more: thus it is said, The haughty God opposes, but to the humble he gives grace.

Well then, submit yourselves to God; resist the devil, and he will fly from you:

draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.