for you know that the testing of your faith leads to steadfastness,

But he must ask with faith, and without any doubt, for the man who doubts is like the billowing sea, driven and blown about by the wind.

but one who is rich ought to rejoice at being reduced in circumstances, for the rich will disappear like the wild flowers.

For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, and the flowers wither, and all their beauty is gone. That is the way rich men will fade and die in the midst of their pursuits.

Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he stands the test, he will be given the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

No one should think when he is tempted that his temptation comes from God, for God is incapable of being tempted by what is evil, and he does not tempt anyone.

for men's anger does not produce the uprightness God wishes.

For anyone who merely listens to the message without obeying it is like a man who looks in a mirror at the face that nature gave him,

But whoever looks at the faultless law that makes men free and keeps looking, so that he does not just listen and forget, but obeys and acts upon it, will be blessed in what he does.

For if a finely dressed man with a gold ring comes into a meeting, and a poor man in shabby clothes comes in also,

For anyone who obeys the whole of the Law but makes one single slip is guilty of breaking it all.

For he who said, "You must not commit adultery," said also, "You must not commit murder." Now if you abstain from adultery, but commit murder, you are still a violator of the Law.

You must talk and act like men who expect to be judged by the law that treats men as free.

For the merciless will be mercilessly judged; but mercy will triumph over judgment.

If some brother or sister has no clothes and has not food enough for a day,

Was not our forefather Abraham made upright for his good deeds, for offering his son Isaac on the altar?

Was not even Rahab the prostitute made upright for her good deeds, in entertaining the scouts and sending them off by a different road?

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

For we all make many mistakes. Anyone who never makes a mistake in what he says has a character that is fully developed and is able to control his whole body as well.

So the tongue is a little organ and yet very boastful. What a great forest a spark will set on fire!

And the tongue is a fire, a world of wrong the tongue proves in our bodies, soiling the whole body and setting fire to the whole round of nature, and set on fire itself by hell.

For every kind of animal and bird, reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by man,

For wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there will be confusion and every low action.

You crave things, and cannot have them, and so you commit murder. You covet things, and cannot get them, and so you quarrel and fight. You do not have things because you do not ask for them.

when you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow! You are just a mist, which appears for a little while and then disappears.

your gold and silver are rusted, and their rust will testify against you and eat into your very flesh, for you have stored up fire for the last days.

You have lived luxuriously and voluptuously here on earth; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.

So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer has to wait for the precious crop from the ground, and be patient with it, until it gets the early and the late rains.

You must have patience too; you must keep up your courage, for the coming of the Lord is close at hand.

Why, we call those who showed such endurance happy! You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen what the Lord brought out of it, for the Lord is very kind and merciful.

So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be cured. An upright man can do a great deal by prayer when he tries.

Elijah was a man like us, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and for three years and six months there was no rain in the land.