Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials,

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.

But you have humiliated the man who is poor. Are not rich people the ones who oppress you and drag you into court?

Are not they the ones who blaspheme the noble Name by which you have been called?

Nevertheless, you are doing the right thing if you obey the royal Law in keeping with the Scripture, "You must love your neighbor as yourself."

But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and will be convicted by the Law as violators.

You must make it your habit to speak and act like people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty.

And look at ships! They are so big that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the helmsman directs.

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

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his noble conduct that his actions are done humbly and wisely.

Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don't they?

Do not criticize each other, brothers. Whoever makes it his habit to criticize his brother or to judge his brother is judging the Law and condemning the Law. But if you condemn the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but its judge.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge the one who can save and destroy. So who are you to judge your neighbor?

You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Now listen, you rich people! Cry and moan over the miseries that are overtaking you.

Your riches are rotten, your clothes have been eaten by moths,

your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be used as evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures in these last days.

Look! The wages that you kept back from the workers who harvested your fields are shouting out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.