Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;

Therefore, you should put away [from you] all moral filth and overflowing wickedness and humbly receive the word [of God], planted within you [by the Holy Spirit. See John 16:8], which is capable of saving your souls.

And see that ye be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves with sophistry.

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,

for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

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.

Do you not see, O foolish man, that faith without works is of no use?

dost thou see that the faith was working with his works, and out of the works the faith was perfected?

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

We put bridles into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and so, you see, we can move the whole of their bodies.

Thus also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how little a fire, how large a wood it kindles!

And the seed whose fruit is righteousness (spiritual maturity) is sown in peace by those who make peace [by actively encouraging goodwill between individuals].

You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God].

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.

Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us?

when, all the while, you do not even know what will happen to-morrow. For what is the nature of your life? Why, it is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then is seen no more.

See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.

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

So wait patiently, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits [expectantly] for the precious harvest from the land, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains.

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

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

My brothers, if one of you has gone out of the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error,