[This letter is from] James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, [who sends] greetings to the twelve tribes which are scattered throughout the world. [Note: This refers to Christians, probably of Jewish descent].

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

But if any one of you lacks wisdom, he should pray to God, who gives to everyone generously and does not begrudge [the person who asks], and it will be given to him.

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

No one should say when he is tempted, "God is tempting me," because God cannot be tempted by evil and He does not tempt anyone.

[So], do not be deceived, my dearly loved brothers.

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].

For the anger of people does not produce what God considers to be right.

But you should not deceive yourselves by just listening [to God's word] instead of doing what the word teaches.

For if anyone is [only] a listener to the word and does not practice it, he is like a person who sees his natural face in a mirror,

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.

If anyone considers himself to be religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, this person is self-deceived and his religion is worthless.

My brothers, do not hold [views regarding] the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ [i.e., as tenets of Christianity] which show favoritism toward [certain] persons.

are you not making class distinctions among yourselves and judging [people] from evil motives?

Listen, my dearly loved brothers; did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be wealthy in faith and to inherit the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

But you people have dishonored the poor person. Are not rich people the ones who oppress you and drag you to court?

Do they not speak against the honorable name by which you are called? [i.e., the name "Christ" or "Christian"].

For God, who said [through Moses, Ex. 20:13f], "You must not be sexually unfaithful to your mate," also said, "You must not murder." Now if you are sexually faithful to your mate and yet murder [someone], you have become a lawbreaker.

What good is it, my brothers [and sisters], if a person says he has faith but does not have [good] deeds? Can such faith save him?

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?

In the same way, if [your] faith does not have [good] deeds [to accompany it], it is dead, [because it stands] alone.

Was not our forefather Abraham made right with God by deeds [of obedience] when he offered his son Isaac [as a sacrifice] on the Altar?

[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.

And in the same way, was not the prostitute Rahab made right with God by [her] deeds when she welcomed [and protected] the messengers, and [then] sent them away by a different road?

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

For we all make mistakes in many areas [of life]. If anyone does not make a mistake in what he says, he is a perfect person, capable of keeping a tight rein on his whole life also.

Praise and cursing come out of the same mouth! My brothers, these things should not be happening.

But if you people have bitter jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, do not be arrogant [over it] and deny the truth.

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].

Where do conflicts and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your [desire for] pleasures which produces inner conflict?

You people desire something and yet do not have it, [so] you murder [to get it]. You are envious [of what someone has] and [yet] are not able to obtain it, [so] you fight and quarrel [over it]. You do not have [what you want] because you do not ask [God for it].

[When] you do ask, you do not receive it, because you ask from wrong motives, [just] so you can satisfy your own pleasures.

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]."

Do not slander one another, brothers, [for] the person who speaks against his brother, or judges him, is [guilty of] speaking against the law [of God]. But when you judge the law, you are not obeying it but acting as its judge.

[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.

So, the person who knows the good [he ought] to be doing, but is not doing it, is sinning.

You have condemned and murdered the righteous man [i.e., the innocent person, See verse 4] and he does not [even] resist you.

[So], you people should be patient also; strengthen your hearts because the Lord's coming is near [Note: This may refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, or to Christ's final coming and judgment].

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].

But above everything else, my brothers, do not take oaths, not "by the heaven," nor "by the earth," nor by any other oath. But your "yes" should be [simply] "yes," and your "no," [simply] "no," so you do not fall under condemnation.

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.