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James says ‘Hello’

1 This letter is from me, James. I am a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. [ a ]

I am writing to the 12 tribes of God's people who live in many different parts of the world. I say ‘hello’ to all of you. [ b ]

What to do when you have troubles

2 My Christian friends, remember to be happy, even when many kinds of trouble happen to you. Troubles can help you. 3 God wants to see if you really trust him. Your faith in God will become stronger as a result of these troubles. 4 So you should continue to trust God all the time. Then you will become stronger as a believer. You will become completely how you should be. You will not need anything more.

5 But maybe you need to know how to be wise. Then ask God to help you. He is ready to give everyone what they need. And he never says that it is wrong to ask. So God will help you to be wise. 6 But when you ask God for something, you must trust him completely. Do not have other ideas in your mind. People who are not sure that God will help them are like the waves in the sea. The wind blows the water one way and then it blows the water another way. 7-8 A person who is like that never knows what to do. He has many ideas in his mind. He should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.

9 The believers in your group who are poor should be happy. Why? Because God says that they are valuable to him. 10 And the believers who are rich should also be happy. Why? Because God has shown them that they are not so great. Rich people should remember that they will die, like a wild flower quickly dies. 11 When the sun rises, its heat causes plants to become dry. Their flowers fall to the ground. They are no longer beautiful. In the same way, rich people will die when they are busy in their work. Then they will have nothing.

12 Some people continue to trust God even when troubles happen. God will bless those people, if they show that they really trust him. He will give them the gift which is life with him. He has promised to give this gift to all people who love him.

13 When troubles happen to you, you may want to do something bad. But do not say, ‘God is causing me to do wrong things.’ Nothing can make God do anything bad. And God does not try to make anyone do a wrong thing. 14 It is our own thoughts that make us do bad things. When we want to do something wrong, our thoughts lead us in a bad way. 15 We may agree to do what our bad thoughts tell us to do. When we do that, it becomes a sin. Then, we may not stop doing those bad things. If we continue to live like that, the result of our sins is death. [ c ]

16 My Christian friends, do not make a mistake. 17 Remember that every good gift comes to us from God. He only does what will help us. He is our Father in heaven. He made everything in the sky that gives us light. Those things do not give us the same light all the time. They change, but God does not change. 18 He chose to make us his children. He used his true message to do that. Because of that, we are like the first special gift that belongs to him from among everything that he has made.

Listen and do what God wants

19 Understand this, my Christian friends: We must all be careful to listen. We should not be too quick to speak. We should not get angry quickly. 20 God wants us to do what is right. But when someone is angry, they do not do those right things. 21 So stop doing disgusting things. Stay away from the wicked things that are all around you. God has put his message deep inside you, and it can save you. So be careful to accept that message.

22 But be careful to do what God says in his message. Do not only listen to it. Do not make that mistake! 23 You must obey God's message. Do not be like a man who quickly looks at his face in a mirror. 24 That man looks at himself, but then he goes away. He immediately forgets what he is really like. 25 So do not just listen to God's message and then forget it. It is a completely good message that makes people free. Look at it carefully and keep it in your mind. Do what it tells you to do. God will bless anyone who lives in that way.

26 Maybe some of you think that you are serving God well. But if you also say bad things about people, you do not serve God well at all. You are doing something bad even when you think you are doing good things. 27 If you want to serve God in a completely good way, do things like this: Help children who have no parents and women who are widows. Help them in their troubles. If you serve God our Father like that, he will be pleased with you. Do not let the bad people in this world make you bad too.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 James is the brother of Jesus, but he describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ.
  2. 1:1 This may mean all believers, wherever they live. There were 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament. They were God's people. Now all Christians are God's people.
  3. 1:15 ‘Death’ here means that we no longer have life with God. We become separate from God.

1 Greetings from James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To God’s people [ a ] who are scattered all over the world.

Faith and Wisdom

2 My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. 3 You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. 4 If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.

5 Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom. 6 But when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind. 7-8 People like that are thinking two different things at the same time. They can never decide what to do. So they should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.

True Riches

9 Believers who are poor should be glad that God considers them so important. 10 Believers who are rich should be glad when bad things happen that humble them. Their riches won’t keep them from disappearing as quickly as wildflowers. 11 As the sun rises and gets hotter, its heat dries up the plants, and the flowers fall off. The flowers that were so beautiful are now dead. That’s how it is with the rich. While they are still making plans for their business, they will die.

Temptation Does Not Come From God

12 Great blessings belong to those who are tempted and remain faithful! After they have proved their faith, God will give them the reward [ b ] of eternal life. God promised this to all people who love him. 13 Whenever you feel tempted to do something bad, you should not say, “God is tempting me.” Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. 14 You are tempted by the evil things you want. Your own desire leads you away and traps you. 15 Your desire grows inside you until it results in sin. Then the sin grows bigger and bigger and finally ends in death.

16 My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled about this. 17 Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18 God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created.

Listening and Obeying

19 My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger. 20 Anger does not help you live the way God wants. 21 So get rid of everything evil in your lives—every kind of wrong you do. Be humble and accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts. This teaching can save you.

22 Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. 23 Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror 24 and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. 25 But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard.

The True Way to Worship God

26 You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. 27 The worship that God wants is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help and keeping yourself free from the world’s evil influence. This is the kind of worship that God accepts as pure and good.

Footnotes

  1. James 1:1 God’s people Literally, “the twelve tribes.” Believers in Christ are like the tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people in the Old Testament.
  2. James 1:12 reward Literally, “wreath,” a ring of leaves or branches that was placed on the head of the winners of athletic contests to honor them. It was a symbol of victory and reward.

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 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.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

The Testing of Your Faith

1 [ a ] ( A ) James, a ( B ) bond-servant of God and ( C ) of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ( D ) the twelve tribes who are [ b ] ( E ) dispersed abroad: ( F ) Greetings.

2 ( G ) Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters , when you encounter ( H ) various [ c ] trials, 3 knowing that ( I ) the testing of your ( J ) faith produces [ d ] ( K ) endurance. 4 And let [ e ] ( L ) endurance have its perfect [ f ] result, so that you may be [ g ] ( M ) perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 But if any of you ( N ) lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [ h ] without reproach, and ( O ) it will be given to him. 6 But he must ( P ) ask in faith ( Q ) without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, ( R ) driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a ( S ) [ i ] double-minded man, ( T ) unstable in all his ways.

9 ( U ) Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 but the rich person is to glory in his [ j ] humiliation, because ( V ) like [ k ] flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with ( W ) its scorching heat and ( X ) withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.

12 ( Y ) Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has [ l ] been approved, he will receive ( Z ) the crown of life which the Lord ( AA ) has promised to those who ( AB ) love Him. 13 No one is to say when he is tempted, “ ( AC ) I am being tempted [ m ] by God”; for God cannot be tempted [ n ] by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then ( AD ) when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and ( AE ) sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death. 16 ( AF ) Do not be [ o ] deceived, ( AG ) my beloved brothers and sisters . 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is ( AH ) from above, coming down from ( AI ) the Father of lights, ( AJ ) with whom there is no variation or [ p ] shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of ( AK ) His will He ( AL ) gave us birth by ( AM ) the word of truth, so that we would be [ q ] a kind of ( AN ) first fruits [ r ] among His creatures.

19 [ s ] ( AO ) You know this , ( AP ) my beloved brothers and sisters . Now everyone must be quick to hear, ( AQ ) slow to speak, and ( AR ) slow to anger; 20 for a man’s ( AS ) anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, ( AT ) ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all [ t ] that remains of wickedness, in [ u ] humility receive ( AU ) the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 ( AV ) But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [ v ] natural face ( AW ) in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [ w ] he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, ( AX ) the law of freedom, and has continued in it , not having become a forgetful hearer but [ x ] an active doer, this person will be ( AY ) blessed in [ y ] what he does.

26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not [ z ] ( AZ ) bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion ( BA ) in the sight of our God and Father is this: to ( BB ) visit ( BC ) orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [ aa ] by ( BD ) the world.

Footnotes

  1. James 1:1 Or Jacob
  2. James 1:1 Lit in the Dispersion
  3. James 1:2 Or temptations
  4. James 1:3 Or steadfastness
  5. James 1:4 Or steadfastness
  6. James 1:4 Lit work
  7. James 1:4 Or mature
  8. James 1:5 Lit does not reproach
  9. James 1:8 I.e., a chronic doubter
  10. James 1:10 Or downfall
  11. James 1:10 Lit the flower of the grass
  12. James 1:12 Or passed the test
  13. James 1:13 Lit from
  14. James 1:13 Lit of evil things
  15. James 1:16 Or misled
  16. James 1:17 Lit shadow of turning
  17. James 1:18 Or a certain first fruits
  18. James 1:18 Lit of
  19. James 1:19 Or Know this
  20. James 1:21 Lit abundance of malice
  21. James 1:21 Or gentleness
  22. James 1:23 Lit the face of his birth ; or nature
  23. James 1:24 Lit and he
  24. James 1:25 Lit a doer of a work
  25. James 1:25 Lit his doing
  26. James 1:26 Or control
  27. James 1:27 Lit from

1 James, ( A ) a servant of God ( B ) and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes ( C ) scattered ( D ) among the nations:

Greetings. ( E )

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, [ a ] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ( F ) 3 because you know that the testing of your faith ( G ) produces perseverance. ( H ) 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature ( I ) and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, ( J ) who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ( K ) 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, ( L ) because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded ( M ) and unstable ( N ) in all they do.

9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. ( O ) 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. ( P ) 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat ( Q ) and withers ( R ) the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. ( S ) In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial ( T ) because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life ( U ) that the Lord has promised to those who love him. ( V )

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own ( W ) evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; ( X ) and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. ( Y )

16 Don’t be deceived, ( Z ) my dear brothers and sisters. ( AA ) 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, ( AB ) coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, ( AC ) who does not change ( AD ) like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth ( AE ) through the word of truth, ( AF ) that we might be a kind of firstfruits ( AG ) of all he created.

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters, ( AH ) take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak ( AI ) and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger ( AJ ) does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of ( AK ) all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, ( AL ) which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ( AM ) 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, ( AN ) and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. ( AO )

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues ( AP ) deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after ( AQ ) orphans and widows ( AR ) in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ( AS )

Footnotes

  1. James 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters ( adelphoi ) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.
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