NETtext - James - 1

1:1  From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings!

1:2  My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials,

1:3  because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

1:4  And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.

1:5  But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

1:6  But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind.

1:7  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord,

1:8  since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways.

1:9  Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position.

1:10  But the rich person's pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow.

1:11  For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.

1:12  Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.

1:13  Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

1:14  But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.

1:15  Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

1:16  Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters.

1:17  All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.

1:18  By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

1:19  Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.

1:20  For human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness.

1:21  So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls.

1:22  But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves.

1:23  For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror.

1:24  For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was.

1:25  But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out - he will be blessed in what he does.

1:26  If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile.

1:27  Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.