Do not neglect to do good and to be generous, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep,

equip you with everything good to do his will, accomplishing in us what pleases him through Jesus, the Messiah. To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.

From: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. To: The twelve tribes in the Dispersion. Greetings.

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him.

How blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor's crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him.

When someone is tempted, he should not say, "I am being tempted by God," because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

For human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

A religion that is pure and stainless according to God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows who are suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not?

What good does it do, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but does not prove it with actions? This kind of faith cannot save him, can it?

and one of you tells them, "Go in peace! Stay warm and eat heartily." If you do not provide for their bodily needs, what good does it do?

You believe that there is one God. That's fine! Even the demons believe that and tremble with fear.

And so the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." And so he was called God's friend.

With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in God's likeness.

However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds, and without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.

You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them!

You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason for your own pleasure.

You adulterers! Don't you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.

Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?

But he gives all the more grace. And so he says, "God opposes the arrogant but gives grace to the humble."

Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you.

Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

To: The exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in abundance!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

Through faith you are being protected by God's power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish by the living and everlasting word of God.

but the word of the Lord lasts forever." Now this word is the good news that was announced to you.

Surely you have tasted that the Lord is good!

As you come to him, the living stone who was rejected by people but was chosen and precious in God's sight,

you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them.

For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

Live like free people, and do not use your freedom as an excuse for doing evil. Instead, be God's servants.

Honor everyone. Keep on loving the community of believers, fearing God, and honoring the king.

For it is a fine thing if, when moved by your conscience to please God, you suffer patiently when wronged.

What good does it do if, when you sin, you patiently receive punishment for it? But if you suffer for doing good and receive it patiently, you have God's approval.

Instead, it should be the inner disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which God values greatly.

After all, this is how holy women who set their hope on God used to make themselves beautiful in the past. They submitted themselves to their husbands,

just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters by doing good and by not letting anything terrify you.

"For the person who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

He must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it.

Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing what is good?

But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. "Never be afraid of their threats, and never get upset.

But do this gently and respectfully, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in the Messiah will be ashamed of slandering you.

After all, if it is the will of God, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.

For the Messiah also suffered for sins once for all, an innocent person for the guilty, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in a mortal body but was brought to life by the Spirit,

who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah, when God waited patiently while the ark was being built. In it a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water.

Baptism, which is symbolized by that water, now saves you also, not by removing dirt from the body, but by asking God for a clear conscience based on the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah,

who has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God, where angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him.

so that he can live the rest of his mortal life guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God.

Indeed, this is why the gospel was proclaimed even to those who have died, so that they could be judged in their mortal flesh like all humans and live in the spiritual realm like God.

As good servant managers of God's grace in its various forms, serve one another with the gift each of you has received.

Whoever speaks must speak God's words. Whoever serves must serve with the strength that God supplies, so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus, the Messiah. Glory and power belong to him forever and ever! Amen.

If you are insulted because of the name of the Messiah, you are blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God is resting on you.

But if you suffer for being a Christian, do not feel ashamed, but glorify God with that name.

For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who refuse to obey the gospel of God?

So then, those who suffer according to God's will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do what is good.

Be shepherds of God's flock that is among you, watching over it, not because you must but because you want to, and not greedily but eagerly, as God desires.

In a similar way, you young people must submit to the elders. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because: "God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble."

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you.

Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is to be the true grace of God in which you are to stand firm!

From: Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. To: Those who have received faith that is as valuable as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.

May grace and peace be yours in abundance through full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

For he received honor and glory from God the Father when these words from the Majestic Glory were spoken about him: "This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him."

because no prophecy ever originated through a human decision. Instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into the lowest hell and imprisoned them in chains of deepest darkness, holding them for judgment;

With eyes full of adultery, they cannot get enough of sin. They seduce unsteady souls and have had their hearts expertly trained in greed. They are doomed to a curse.

They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Bosor's son Balaam, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong.

But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God's word out of water and with water,

as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire.

This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness none at all!

But whoever continually keeps his commandments is the kind of person in whom God's love has truly been perfected. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God:

I have written to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, because you are strong and because God's word remains in you and you have overcome the evil one.

And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God's will remains forever.

The anointing you received from God abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this. Instead, because God's anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.

Since you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by God.

See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God's children and that is what we are! For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either.

Dear friends, we are now God's children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is.

The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the Devil has been doing.

No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God's seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God.

This is how God's children and the Devil's children are distinguished. No person who fails to practice righteousness and to love his brother is from God.

Whoever has earthly possessions and notices a brother in need and yet withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God be present in him?

If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God.

The person who keeps his commandments abides in God, and God abides in him. This is how we can be sure that he remains in us: he has given us his Spirit.

Dear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah has become human and remains so is from God.

But every spirit who does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard that he is coming, and now he is already in the world.

Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Dear friends, let us continuously love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God.

The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God's love was revealed among us: God sent his unique Son into the world so that we might live through him.

This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.