JAMES

James1This letter is from James, a slave of

God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It iswritten to Jewish Christians scatteredamong the nations. Greetings!2Dear brothers and sisters, whenevertrouble comes your way, let it be anopportunity for joy.3For when your faith is tested, yourendurance has a chance to grow.4So let it grow, for when your enduranceis fully developed, you will be strong incharacter and ready for anything.5If you need wisdom--if you want toknow what God wants you to do--askhim, and he will gladly tell you. He willnot resent your asking.6But when you ask him, be sure that youreally expect him to answer, for adoubtful mind is as unsettled as a waveof the sea that is driven and tossed bythe wind.7People like that should not expect toreceive anything from the Lord.8They can't make up their minds. Theywaver back and forth in everything theydo.9Christians who are poor should be glad,for God has honored them.10And those who are rich should be glad,for God has humbled them. They willfade away like a flower in the field.11The hot sun rises and dries up thegrass; the flower withers, and its beautyfades away. So also, wealthy people willfade away with all of their achievements.12God blesses the people who patientlyendure testing. Afterward they willreceive the crown of life that God haspromised to those who love him.13And remember, no one who wants todo wrong should ever say, "God istempting me." God is never tempted todo wrong, and he never tempts anyoneelse either.14Temptation comes from the lure of ourown evil desires.15These evil desires lead to evil actions,and evil actions lead to death.16So don't be misled, my dear brothersand sisters.17Whatever is good and perfect comesto us from God above, who created allheaven's lights. Unlike them, he neverchanges or casts shifting shadows.18In his goodness he chose to make ushis own children by giving us his true

word. And we, out of all creation,became his choice possession.19My dear brothers and sisters, be quickto listen, slow to speak, and slow to getangry.20Your anger can never make thingsright in God's sight.21So get rid of all the filth and evil in yourlives, and humbly accept the messageGod has planted in your hearts, for it isstrong enough to save your souls.22And remember, it is a message toobey, not just to listen to. If you don'tobey, you are only fooling yourself.23For if you just listen and don't obey, itis like looking at your face in a mirror butdoing nothing to improve yourappearance.24You see yourself, walk away, andforget what you look like.25But if you keep looking steadily intoGod's perfect law--the law that sets youfree--and if you do what it says and don'tforget what you heard, then God willbless you for doing it.26If you claim to be religious but don'tcontrol your tongue, you are just foolingyourself, and your religion is worthless.27Pure and lasting religion in the sight ofGod our Father means that we mustcare for orphans and widows in theirtroubles, and refuse to let the worldcorrupt us.

2My dear brothers and sisters, how

can you claim that you have faith in ourglorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favorsome people more than others?2For instance, suppose someone comesinto your meeting dressed in fancyclothes and expensive jewelry, andanother comes in who is poor anddressed in shabby clothes.3If you give special attention and a goodseat to the rich person, but you say tothe poor one, "You can stand over there,or else sit on the floor"--well,4doesn't this discrimination show thatyou are guided by wrong motives?5Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters.Hasn't God chosen the poor in this worldto be rich in faith? Aren't they the oneswho will inherit the Kingdom hepromised to those who love him?6And yet, you insult the poor man! Isn't itthe rich who oppress you and drag youinto court?7Aren't they the ones who slander JesusChrist, whose noble name you bear?

JAMES

8Yes indeed, it is good when you trulyobey our Lord's royal command found inthe Scriptures: "Love your neighbor asyourself."9But if you pay special attention to therich, you are committing a sin, for youare guilty of breaking that law.10And the person who keeps all of thelaws except one is as guilty as theperson who has broken all of God's laws.11For the same God who said, "Do notcommit adultery," also said, "Do notmurder." So if you murder someone, youhave broken the entire law, even if youdo not commit adultery.12So whenever you speak, or whateveryou do, remember that you will bejudged by the law of love, the law thatset you free.13For there will be no mercy for you ifyou have not been merciful to others.But if you have been merciful, thenGod's mercy toward you will win outover his judgment against you.14Dear brothers and sisters, what's theuse of saying you have faith if you don'tprove it by your actions? That kind offaith can't save anyone.15Suppose you see a brother or sisterwho needs food or clothing,16and you say, "Well, good-bye and Godbless you; stay warm and eat well"--butthen you don't give that person any foodor clothing. What good does that do?17So you see, it isn't enough just to havefaith. Faith that doesn't show itself bygood deeds is no faith at all--it is deadand useless.18Now someone may argue, "Somepeople have faith; others have gooddeeds." I say, "I can't see your faith ifyou don't have good deeds, but I willshow you my faith through my gooddeeds."19Do you still think it's enough just tobelieve that there is one God? Well,even the demons believe this, and theytremble in terror!20Fool! When will you ever learn thatfaith that does not result in good deedsis useless?21Don't you remember that our ancestorAbraham was declared right with Godbecause of what he did when he offeredhis son Isaac on the altar?22You see, he was trusting God so muchthat he was willing to do whatever Godtold him to do. His faith was madecomplete by what he did--by his actions.

23And so it happened just as theScriptures say: "Abraham believed God,so God declared him to be righteous."He was even called "the friend of God."24So you see, we are made right withGod by what we do, not by faith alone.25Rahab the prostitute is anotherexample of this. She was made rightwith God by her actions--when she hidthose messengers and sent them safelyaway by a different road.26Just as the body is dead without aspirit, so also faith is dead without gooddeeds.

3Dear brothers and sisters, not many

of you should become teachers in thechurch, for we who teach will be judgedby God with greater strictness.2We all make many mistakes, but thosewho control their tongues can alsocontrol themselves in every other way.3We can make a large horse turn aroundand go wherever we want by means of asmall bit in its mouth.4And a tiny rudder makes a huge shipturn wherever the pilot wants it to go,even though the winds are strong.5So also, the tongue is a small thing, butwhat enormous damage it can do. A tinyspark can set a great forest on fire.6And the tongue is a flame of fire. It isfull of wickedness that can ruin yourwhole life. It can turn the entire courseof your life into a blazing flame ofdestruction, for it is set on fire by hellitself.7People can tame all kinds of animalsand birds and reptiles and fish,8but no one can tame the tongue. It is anuncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison.9Sometimes it praises our Lord andFather, and sometimes it breaks out intocurses against those who have beenmade in the image of God.10And so blessing and cursing comepouring out of the same mouth. Surely,my brothers and sisters, this is not right!11Does a spring of water bubble out withboth fresh water and bitter water?12Can you pick olives from a fig tree orfigs from a grapevine? No, and you can'tdraw fresh water from a salty pool.13If you are wise and understand God'sways, live a life of steady goodness sothat only good deeds will pour forth. Andif you don't brag about the good you do,then you will be truly wise!14But if you are bitterly jealous and there

JAMES

is selfish ambition in your hearts, don'tbrag about being wise. That is the worstkind of lie.15For jealousy and selfishness are notGod's kind of wisdom. Such things areearthly, unspiritual, and motivated by theDevil.16For wherever there is jealousy andselfish ambition, there you will finddisorder and every kind of evil.17But the wisdom that comes fromheaven is first of all pure. It is alsopeace loving, gentle at all times, andwilling to yield to others. It is full ofmercy and good deeds. It shows nopartiality and is always sincere.18And those who are peacemakers willplant seeds of peace and reap a harvestof goodness.

4What is causing the quarrels and

fights among you? Isn't it the wholearmy of evil desires at war within you?2You want what you don't have, so youscheme and kill to get it. You are jealousfor what others have, and you can'tpossess it, so you fight and quarrel totake it away from them. And yet thereason you don't have what you want isthat you don't ask God for it.3And even when you do ask, you don'tget it because your whole motive iswrong--you want only what will give youpleasure.4You adulterers! Don't you realize thatfriendship with this world makes you anenemy of God? I say it again, that if youraim is to enjoy this world, you can't be afriend of God.5What do you think the Scriptures meanwhen they say that the Holy Spirit,whom God has placed within us,jealously longs for us to be faithful ?6He gives us more and more strength tostand against such evil desires. As theScriptures say, "God sets himselfagainst the proud, but he shows favor tothe humble."7So humble yourselves before God.Resist the Devil, and he will flee fromyou.8Draw close to God, and God will drawclose to you. Wash your hands, yousinners; purify your hearts, youhypocrites.9Let there be tears for the wrong thingsyou have done. Let there be sorrow anddeep grief. Let there be sadness insteadof laughter, and gloom instead of joy.

10When you bow down before the Lordand admit your dependence on him, hewill lift you up and give you honor.11Don't speak evil against each other,my dear brothers and sisters. If youcriticize each other and condemn eachother, then you are criticizing andcondemning God's law. But you are nota judge who can decide whether the lawis right or wrong. Your job is to obey it.12God alone, who made the law, canrightly judge among us. He alone hasthe power to save or to destroy. So whatright do you have to condemn yourneighbor?13Look here, you people who say,"Today or tomorrow we are going to acertain town and will stay there a year.We will do business there and make aprofit."14How do you know what will happentomorrow? For your life is like themorning fog--it's here a little while, thenit's gone.15What you ought to say is, "If the Lordwants us to, we will live and do this orthat."16Otherwise you will be boasting aboutyour own plans, and all such boasting isevil.17Remember, it is sin to know what youought to do and then not do it.

5Look here, you rich people, weep

and groan with anguish because of allthe terrible troubles ahead of you.2Your wealth is rotting away, and yourfine clothes are moth-eaten rags.3Your gold and silver have becomeworthless. The very wealth you werecounting on will eat away your flesh inhell. This treasure you haveaccumulated will stand as evidenceagainst you on the day of judgment.4For listen! Hear the cries of the fieldworkers whom you have cheated of theirpay. The wages you held back cry outagainst you. The cries of the reapershave reached the ears of the LordAlmighty.5You have spent your years on earth inluxury, satisfying your every whim. Nowyour hearts are nice and fat, ready forthe slaughter.6You have condemned and killed goodpeople who had no power to defendthemselves against you.7Dear brothers and sisters, you must bepatient as you wait for the Lord's return.

JAMES

Consider the farmers who eagerly lookfor the rains in the fall and in the spring.They patiently wait for the preciousharvest to ripen.8You, too, must be patient. And takecourage, for the coming of the Lord isnear.9Don't grumble about each other, mybrothers and sisters, or God will judgeyou. For look! The great Judge iscoming. He is standing at the door!10For examples of patience in suffering,dear brothers and sisters, look at theprophets who spoke in the name of theLord.11We give great honor to those whoendure under suffering. Job is anexample of a man who enduredpatiently. From his experience we seehow the Lord's plan finally ended ingood, for he is full of tenderness andmercy.12But most of all, my brothers andsisters, never take an oath, by heavenor earth or anything else. Just say asimple yes or no, so that you will not sinand be condemned for it.13Are any among you suffering? Theyshould keep on praying about it. Andthose who have reason to be thankfulshould continually sing praises to theLord.14Are any among you sick? They shouldcall for the elders of the church andhave them pray over them, anointingthem with oil in the name of the Lord.15And their prayer offered in faith willheal the sick, and the Lord will makethem well. And anyone who hascommitted sins will be forgiven.16Confess your sins to each other andpray for each other so that you may behealed. The earnest prayer of arighteous person has great power andwonderful results.17Elijah was as human as we are, andyet when he prayed earnestly that norain would fall, none fell for the nextthree and a half years!18Then he prayed for rain, and down itpoured. The grass turned green, and thecrops began to grow again.19My dear brothers and sisters, ifanyone among you wanders away fromthe truth and is brought back again,20you can be sure that the one whobrings that person back will save thatsinner from death and bring about theforgiveness of many sins.