(1:7) unreliable in every step he takes, must not expect to get anything from the Lord.

for a man's anger does not produce the uprightness that God requires.

Keep on obeying this message; do not merely listen to it, and so deceive yourselves.

But the man who looks at the flawless law that makes men free, and keeps on looking, proving himself to be, not a forgetful hearer but an actual doer of what it requires, will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives himself, his religious worship is worthless.

do you not make improper distinctions among yourselves and prove to be critics with evil motives?

Listen, my dearly loved brothers. Has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

But you, in contrast, have humiliated the poor man. Are not the rich men those who oppress you and drag you to court?

Are not they the ones who scoff at the beautiful name you bear?

For He who said, "You must not commit adultery," also said, "You must not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but you do commit murder, you are just the same a lawbreaker.

Was not our forefather Abraham shown to be upright by his good deeds, namely, by offering Isaac his son upon the altar?

You see that a man is shown to be upright by his good deeds, and not merely by his faith.

Was not even Rahab the prostitute shown to be upright by her good deeds, namely, by entertaining the scouts and sending them off by a different road?

Out of the same mouth flow blessing and cursing! It ought not to be like this, my brothers.

This is not the kind of wisdom that comes down from above; no, it is earthly, human, demoniacal.

What causes wars and quarrels among you? Is it not your different desires which are ever at war within your bodies? You desire things and cannot have them, and so you commit murder.

You covet things, but cannot acquire them, and so you quarrel and fight. You do not have them, because you do not ask for them.

You faithless wives! Do you not know that the friendship of the world means enmity with God? So whoever wants to be a friend to the world puts himself down as an enemy to God.

Stop talking against one another, brothers. Whoever is in the habit of talking against a brother or of criticizing his brother is criticizing and condemning the law. But if you are in the habit of criticizing the law, you are not a practicer but a critic of the law.

although you do not have the slightest knowledge of tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? It is really nothing but a mist which appears for a little while and then disappears.

So when a man knows what is right but does not do it, he is guilty of sin.

Elijah was a man with feelings just like ours, and yet he earnestly prayed for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.