because you [should] know that when your faith is tested, it produces perseverance.

And you [should] allow your perseverance to complete its work, so that you will be perfect and complete, [and] not lacking in anything.

But he should ask in faith, without doubting, because the person who doubts [that he will receive wisdom] is like an ocean wave that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that [doubting] person should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord [through prayer],

because he is double-minded and undecided in all that he does [i.e., he cannot make up his mind and follow through about anything].

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

For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass [so that] its flower [blossoms] fall off, and its beautiful appearance is destroyed. In the same way, the wealthy person will fade away as he goes about his business [affairs].

Every good thing that is given and every perfect gift [received] is from above, coming down from the Father of [heavenly] lights, with whom there can be no change or shifting shadow [i.e., God always remains the same].

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].

But the person who looks closely into the perfect law that brings freedom, and continues to do so, is not a listener who forgets [what he hears], but someone who does the work [it requires]. This person will be blessed for doing so.

Religion that is pure and uncorrupted in the eyes of [our] God and Father involves taking care of orphans and widows in their distress and keeping oneself unstained by the world.

However, you are doing well if you fulfill [i.e., obey] the royal law found in the Scriptures [Lev. 19:18], "You should love your neighbor the same way that you love yourself."

So, you should speak and act as people who will be judged by a law that brings freedom.

and one of you says to him, "Go [and be] at peace; keep warm and eat well," and yet you do not give him anything for his physical needs, what good is that?

You believe that there is [only] one God; that is good! Even the demons believe [that], and they shudder [with fear at the thought].

But will you acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without [good] deeds is useless?

[Do you not] see that faith cooperated together with his deeds, and faith was made complete by [his] deeds?

[So], you see, it is by deeds that a person is made right with God, and not by faith alone.

Not many of you should be teachers, my brothers, because you [should] know that we [teachers] will be judged more strictly.

Now if we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they will obey us, we can govern the direction of their entire bodies as well.

And the tongue is [like] a fire [i.e., like that spark]. [For] the tongue, as a part of the body, is [like] the world of evil. It corrupts the entire life [of a person] and inflames the course of nature itself [i.e., it affects a person throughout his whole earthly existence], and is ignited by hell itself [i.e., the evil produced by the fiery tongue has hell as its source and destiny].

Who [then] is the wise and understanding person among you? He should show by his good conduct [that he has] deeds of gentleness [stemming] from wisdom.

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].

You people who have become unfaithful to God, do you not know that being [intimate] friends with the world [of sin] means hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever determines to be an [intimate] friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Or, do you think that the Scripture says [this] for nothing? [Note: No specific passage is here cited, but the idea occurs in several Old Testament passages]. "The Holy Spirit, whom God has made to live in us, longs jealously [for us to be faithful to God]."

Come on now, you people who are saying, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this [or that] city, spend a year there, do business and make some money."

[For actually] you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. What is your life? For you are [like] a mist that appears briefly and then vanishes.

Instead, you should be saying, "If it is what the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that."

Come on now, you rich people, cry and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you.

Do not complain against one another, brothers, so that you will not [have to] be judged [and condemned for it]. Look, the Judge [i.e., Christ] is standing at the door! [See verse 8].

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.

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].

Elijah was a man with a similar nature as ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain [I Kings 17:1; 18:1], and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

that person should know that whoever brings a sinner back from the error of his way will save that soul from [spiritual] death and will cover over a large number of sins [i.e., the many sins of that person will become forgiven].