Be free from the love of money and pleased with the things which you have; for he himself has said, I will be with you at all times.

Keep in mind those who were over you, and who gave you the word of God; seeing the outcome of their way of life, let your faith be like theirs.

Do not be turned away by different strange teachings, because it is good for your hearts to be made strong by grace, and not by meats, which were of no profit to those who took so much trouble over them.

For the bodies of the beasts whose blood is taken into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the circle of the tents.

For this reason Jesus was put to death outside the walls, so that he might make the people holy by his blood.

Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.

Make you full of every good work and ready to do all his desires, working in us whatever is pleasing in his eyes through Jesus Christ; and may the glory be given to him for ever and ever. So be it.

May grace be with you all.

Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;

But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.

Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.

But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;

There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.

Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:

But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.

Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers.

Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.

Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.

You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;

For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.

But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet;

Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?

But you have put the poor man to shame. Are not the men of wealth rulers over you? do they not take you by force before their judges?

But if you take a man's position into account, you do evil, and are judged as evil-doers by the law.

For he who said, Do not be untrue in married life, is the same who said, Put no man to death. Now if you are not untrue in married life, but you put a man to death, the law is broken.

Let your words and your acts be those of men who are to be judged by the law which makes free.

For the man who has had no mercy will be judged without mercy, but mercy takes pride in overcoming judging.

And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this?

But a man may say, You have faith and I have works; let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works.

Was not the righteousness of Abraham our father judged by his works, when he made an offering of Isaac his son on the altar?

You see that his faith was helping his works and was made complete by them;

You see that a man's righteousness is judged by his works and not by his faith only.

And in the same way, was not the righteousness of Rahab, the loose woman, judged by her works, when she took into her house those who were sent and let them go out by another way?

Do not all be teachers, my brothers, because we teachers will be judged more hardly than others.

Now if we put bits of iron into horses' mouths so that they may be guided by us, we have complete control of their bodies.

And again ships, though they are so great and are moved by violent winds, are turned by a very small guiding-blade, at the impulse of the man who is using it.

Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire!

For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority;

But the tongue may not be controlled by man; it is an unresting evil, it is full of the poison of death.

Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, it is not right for these things to be so.

Who has wisdom and good sense among you? let him make his works clear by a life of gentle wisdom.

O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.

For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you.

Be troubled, with sorrow and weeping; let your laughing be turned to sorrow and your joy to grief.

Make yourselves low in the eyes of the Lord and you will be lifted up by him.

There is only one judge and law-giver, even he who has the power of salvation and of destruction; but who are you to be your neighbour's judge?

How foolish it is to say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:

But the right thing to say would be, If it is the Lord's pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.

Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days.

Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near.

Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.

But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.

And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness.

So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.

Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months.

Be certain that he through whom a sinner has been turned from the error of his way, keeps a soul from death and is the cause of forgiveness for sins without number.

Who, through the purpose of God, have been made holy by the Spirit, disciples of Jesus, made clean by his blood: May you have grace and peace in full measure.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Who, by the power of God are kept, through faith, for that salvation, which will be seen at the last day.

You have cause for great joy in this, though it may have been necessary for you to be troubled for a little time, being tested in all sorts of ways,

So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:

But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;

Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.

And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:

Who was marked out by God before the making of the world, but was caused to be seen in these last times for you,

Who through him have faith in God who took him up again from the dead into glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:

Be full of desire for the true milk of the word, as babies at their mothers' breasts, so that you may go on to salvation;

To whom you come, as to a living stone, not honoured by men, but of great and special value to God;

Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

Being of good behaviour among the Gentiles; so that though they say now that you are evil-doers, they may see your good works and give glory to God when he comes to be their judge.

And those of the rulers who are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of those who do well.

Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:

He took our sins on himself, giving his body to be nailed on the tree, so that we, being dead to sin, might have a new life in righteousness, and by his wounds we have been made well.

Wives, be ruled by your husbands; so that even if some of them give no attention to the word, their hearts may be changed by the behaviour of their wives,

Do not let your ornaments be those of the body such as dressing of the hair, or putting on of jewels of gold or fair clothing;

But let them be those of the unseen man of the heart, the ever-shining ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the eyes of God.

And these were the ornaments of the holy women of the past, whose hope was in God, being ruled by their husbands:

As Sarah was ruled by Abraham, naming him lord; whose children you are if you do well, and are not put in fear by any danger.

And you husbands, give thought to your way of life with your wives, giving honour to the woman who is the feebler vessel, but who has an equal part in the heritage of the grace of life; so that you may not be kept from prayer.

And let him be turned from evil and do good; searching for peace and going after it with all his heart.

But you are happy if you undergo pain because of righteousness; have no part in their fear and do not be troubled;

But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride;

Being conscious that you have done no wrong; so that those who say evil things about your good way of life as Christians may be put to shame.

By whom he went to the spirits in prison, preaching to those

And baptism, of which this is an image, now gives you salvation, not by washing clean the flesh, but by making you free from the sense of sin before God, through the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead;

So that as Jesus was put to death in the flesh, do you yourselves be of the same mind; for the death of the flesh puts an end to sin;

But they will have to give an account of themselves to him who is ready to be the judge of the living and the dead.

For this was the reason why the good news of Jesus was given even to the dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but might be living before God in the spirit.

But the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer;

And most of all be warm in your love for one another; because in love there is forgiveness for sins without number:

If anyone has anything to say, let it be as the words of God; if anyone has the desire to be the servant of others, let him do it in the strength which is given by God; so that in all things God may have the glory through Jesus Christ, whose are the glory and the power for ever.

Dear brothers, do not be surprised, as if it was something strange, if your faith is tested as by fire:

But be glad that you are given a part in the pains of Christ; so that at the revelation of his glory you may have great joy.

For the time has come for the judging, starting with the church of God; but if it makes a start with us, what will be the end of those who are not under the rule of God?