Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;

But let him ask in faith and have no doubts; for he who has doubts is like the surge of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed into spray.

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

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].

For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.

But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].

But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and'so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.

My brothers, if you have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, do not take a man's position into account.

For if there come into your synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing;

But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich exploit you, and they themselves drag you into courts?

But if you take a man's position into account, you do evil, and are judged as evil-doers by the law.

And the holy Writings were put into effect which said, And Abraham had faith in God and it was put to his account as righteousness; and he was named the friend of God.

And in the same way, was not the righteousness of Rahab, the loose woman, judged by her works, when she took into her house those who were sent and let them go out by another way?

Now if we put the horses bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also.

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?

Therewith, are we blessing our Lord and Father, and, therewith, we are cursing the men who, after the likeness of God, have been brought into being!

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?

Be ye sorrowful, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into a downcast look.

Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain:

Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen in your life tomorrow. [What is secure in your life?] You are merely a vapor [like a puff of smoke or a wisp of steam from a cooking pot] that is visible for a little while and then vanishes [into thin air].

Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days.

Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

You have revelled on earth and plunged into dissipation; you have fattened yourselves as for the Day of slaughter;

You must be patient, too; you must put iron into your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is close at hand.

But above all things, my brothers, swear not. Neither by the heaven, nor the earth, nor any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and the no, no, so that ye may not fall into hypocrisy.

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