James, a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, greets The Twelve Tribes that are living abroad.

My Brothers, whatever may be the temptations that beset you from time to time, always regard them as a reason for rejoicing,

Knowing, as you do, that the testing of your faith develops endurance.

And let endurance do its work perfectly, so that you may be altogether perfect, and in no respect deficient.

Such a man must not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

Because he so willed, he gave us Life, through the Message of the Truth, so that we should be, as it were, an earnest of still further creations.

Therefore, have done with all filthiness and whatever wickedness still remains, and in a humble spirit receive that Message which has been planted in your hearts and is able to save your souls.

Put that Message into practice, and do not merely listen to it--deceiving yourselves.

But he who looks carefully into the perfect Law, the Law of Freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice--that man will be blessed in what he does.

When a man appears to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue, but imposes upon his own conscience, that man's religious observances are valueless.

That religious observance which is pure and spotless in the eyes of God our Father is this--to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the world.

Is not that to make distinctions among yourselves, and show yourselves prejudiced judges?

Is not it they who malign that honorable Name which has been bestowed upon you?

But, if you worship rank, you commit a sin, and stand convicted by that same law of being offenders against it.

My Brothers, what is the good of a man's saying that he has faith, if he does not prove it by actions? Can such faith save him?

It is a part of your Faith, is it not, that there is one God? Good; yet even the demons have that faith, and tremble at the thought.

Now do you really want to understand, you foolish man, how it is that faith without actions leads to nothing?

Look at our ancestor, Abraham. Was not it the result of his actions that he was pronounced righteous after he had offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?

You see how, in his case, faith and actions went together; that his faith was perfected as the result of his actions;

And that in this way the words of Scripture came true-- "Abraham believed God, and that was regarded by God as righteousness," and "He was called the friend of God."

You see, then, that it is as the result of his actions that a man is pronounced righteous, and not of his faith only.

Was not it the same with the prostitute, Rahab? Was not it as the result of her actions that she was pronounced righteous, after she had welcomed the messengers and hastened them away by a different road?

I do not want many of you, my Brothers, to become teachers, knowing, as you do, that we who teach shall be judged by a more severe standard than others.

From the very same mouth come blessings and curses! My Brothers, it is not right that this should be so.

Who among you claims to be wise and intelligent? Let him show that his actions are the outcome of a good life lived in the humility of true wisdom.

That is not the wisdom which comes from above; no, it is earthly, animal, devilish.

What is the cause of the fighting and quarreling that goes on among you? Is not it to be found in the desires which are always at war within you?

Unfaithful people! Do not you know that to be friends with the world means to be at enmity with God? Therefore whoever chooses to be friends with the world makes himself an enemy to God.

No; the gift that God gives is for a nobler end; and that is why it is said--'God is opposed to the haughty, but gives help to the humble.'

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge--he who has the power both to save and to destroy. But who are you that pass judgment on your neighbor?

You ought, rather, to say 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'

He, then, who knows what is right but fails to do it--that is sin in him.

Listen to me, you rich men, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming upon you!

Your gold and silver are rusted; and the rust on them shall be evidence against you, and shall eat into your very flesh. It was fire, so to speak, that you stored up for yourselves in these last days.

Above all things, my Brothers, never take an oath, either by heaven, or by earth, or by anything else. With you let 'Yes' suffice for yes, and 'No' for no, so that you may escape condemnation.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be cured. Great is the power of a good man's fervent prayer.

Elijah was only a man like ourselves, but, when he prayed fervently that it might not rain, no rain fell upon the land for three years and a half.

Be sure that he who brings a sinner back from his mistaken ways will save that man's soul from Death, and throw a veil over countless sins.