For when the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass gets dry and the grace of its form is gone with the falling flower; so the man of wealth comes to nothing in his ways.

Blessed is he who patiently endures trials; for when he has stood the test, he will gain the victor's crown--even the crown of Life--which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.

Therefore, rid yourselves of everything impure and every expression of wickedness, and with a gentle spirit welcome the word planted in you that can save your souls.

for he has considered himself and is gone away, and straightway he has forgotten what he was like.

Now if you people show special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing and say [to him], "You can sit here in this good seat," and to the poor person, "You stand over there," or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"

For anyone who keeps all the law, but makes a slip in one point, is judged to have gone against it all.

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Can that faith save him? If a brother or a sister be naked,

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].”

We all make many a slip, but whoever avoids slips of speech is a perfect man; he can bridle the whole of the body as well as the tongue.

Now if we put bits into the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we guide their whole body as well.

So too with ships, great as they are, and often driven along by strong gales, yet they can be steered with a very small rudder in whichever direction the caprice of the man at the helm chooses.

In the same sense, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.

See [by comparison] how great a forest is set on fire by a small spark!

the tongue is a brand that sets the world in a combustion: it is but one of the numerous organs of the body, yet it can blast whole assemblies: tipp'd with infernal sulphur it sets the whole train of life in a blaze.

For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.

But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

A spring cannot pour both fresh and brackish water from the same opening, can it?

Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

but if envy and contention imbitter your minds, don't think your false pretences can stand against the truth:

You lust, and don't have. You kill, covet, and can't obtain. You fight and make war. You don't have, because you don't ask.

you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge the one who can save and destroy. So who are you to judge 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:

When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone.

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.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

My brothers, if one of you has gone out of the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error,