Worsley - James

Chapter 1

1:1  James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in dispersion sendeth greeting.

1:2  Account it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into various trials:

1:3  knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh patience;

1:4  but let patience have it's perfect work, that ye may be entirely perfect, failing in nothing.

1:5  And if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask it of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.

1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting; for he that doubteth is like a wave of the sea blown about and tossed by the wind.

1:7  Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing from the Lord.

1:8  A double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways.

1:9  Let the brother that is low rejoice in his exaltation: but the rich in his humiliation,

1:10  because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

1:11  For when the sun is risen with it's sultry heat, it drieth up the grass, and the flower of, it falleth, and the beauty of it's appearance is lost: so shall the rich man fade away in his projects.

1:12  Happy is the man who sustaineth temptation; for being approved he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.

1:13  Let no one that is tempted say, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted by evils, and He tempteth no one.

1:14  But every man is tempted, when drawn aside and insnared by his own vehement desire.

1:15  Then desire having conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

1:16  Be not therefore deceived, my beloved brethren: for every good gift,

1:17  and every perfect gift, but no evil one, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, nor shadow of turning:

1:18  who hath of his own will begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.

1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

1:20  for the wrath of man doth not practise the righteousness of God.

1:21  Laying aside therefore all filthiness, and excess of malice, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

1:22  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror,

1:24  who beheld himself, and went away, and immediately forgot what manner of man he was.

1:25  But he that looketh well into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

1:26  If any among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his heart, this man's devotion is vain.

1:27  Pure and uncorrupt religion before God and our Father is this, to take care of orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Chapter 2

2:1  My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, in a partial respect of persons.

2:2  For if there come into your synagogue a man with a gold ring in fine clothes, and there come in also a poor man in a mean habit;

2:3  and ye turn your eyes toward him that weareth the fine clothes, and say to him, Sit thou here in an honorable place; and say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

2:4  do ye not make a partial difference within yourselves, and become judges that reason wickedly?

2:5  Hear, my beloved brethren; hath not God chosen the poor of this world who are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which He hath promised to them that love Him? but ye have slighted the poor.

2:6  Do not the rich tyrannize over you; and drag you to their tribunals?

2:7  Do they not blaspheme the glorious name by which ye are called?

2:8  If ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, which saith, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.

2:9  But if ye partially respect persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law besides, but offend in one point, he is under the penalty of all:

2:11  for He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou do not commit adultery, but committest murder, thou art a transgressor of the law.

2:12  So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

2:13  For he shall have judgement without mercy, that hath not shewn mercy: but mercy triumpheth over judgement.

2:14  What is the advantage, my brethren, if any one say that he has faith, and he hath not works, can faith alone save him?

2:15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food;

2:16  and one of you say to them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and be ye filled: but ye give them not the necessaries of life, what profit is it to them?

2:17  so faith, if it have not works, being alone, is dead.

2:18  But one may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith by thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble.

2:20  But desirest thou to know, O vain man, that faith without works, is dead?

2:21  consider, Was not our father Abraham justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?

2:22  Thou seest that faith co-operated with his works, and that by his works his faith was perfected.

2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.

2:24  Ye see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

2:25  And in like manner also was not the harlot Rahab justified by works, when she entertained the spies, and let them out another way?

2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Chapter 3

3:1  My brethren, be not many teachers, knowing that we who are such shall pass a stricter trial than others: for in many things we all offend;

3:2  and if any offend not in word, he is a compleat man, able to manage also the whole body.

3:3  Behold we put bridles into the mouths of horses, that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body as we please.

3:4  Behold also the ships which are of so great bulk, and even when they are driven by hard winds, yet are turned about by a very small helm which way soever the pilot pleaseth.

3:5  So the tongue is a small part of the body, yet boasteth great things. Behold how much fuel a little fire kindleth!

3:6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our several parts, defiling the whole body, inflaming the course of nature, and is set on fire by hell.

3:7  For every kind of wild beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and fishes, is tamed and hath been tamed by mankind:

3:8  but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

3:9  With it we bless God even the Father; and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God:

3:10  out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. These things, my brethren, ought not so to be.

3:11  Does a fountain from the same opening send forth sweet water and bitter?

3:12  Can a fig-tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine figs? so can no fountain produce salt water and sweet.

3:13  Is there any wise and understanding man among you? let him shew his works by a good conversation in the meekness of wisdom:

3:14  but if ye have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth;

3:15  this is not the wisdom, that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and diabolical:

3:16  for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

3:17  But the wisdom that is from above first is pure, then peaceable, mild, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

3:18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those that promote peace.

Chapter 4

4:1  Whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence? even of your carnal appetites making war in your bodies?

4:2  Ye desire, and ye have not: ye are envious, and jealous, and cannot obtain: ye fight and contend; but ye have not, because ye ask not.

4:3  Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask wickedly; that ye may spend it in your pleasures.

4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity to God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

4:5  Do ye think the scripture speaks in vain? or does the Spirit that dwelleth in us, excite to envy?

4:6  No, He giveth more grace: wherefore it is said, God resisteth the proud, but sheweth favor to the humble.

4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God: resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

4:8  Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you: cleanse your hands, O sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

4:9  Be grieved, and mourn, and weep: let your mirth be turned into mourning, and your joy to sadness.

4:10  Be humbled before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

4:11  Speak not against one another, my brethren; he that speaketh against his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

4:12  Now there is but one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou then that judgest another?

4:13  Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go to such a city, and spend a year there, and trade and get gain;

4:14  (though ye know not what will be on the morrow; for what is your life? a vapor, which appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth away:) whereas ye ought to say,

4:15  If the Lord will, and we should live, and do this or that:

4:16  but ye glory in your presumption: all such glorying is wicked.

4:17  To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin.

Chapter 5

5:1  Weep now, ye rich men, and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.

5:2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten:

5:3  your gold and silver is cankered, and their rust shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire: ye have been treasuring them up for these last days.

5:4  Behold the hire of the laborers, that reaped your fields, of which they are defrauded by you, crieth out against you: and the complaints of the reapers are come into the ears of the Lord of hosts.

5:5  Ye have lived upon earth delicately and luxuriously; ye fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

5:6  Ye have condemned, ye have murdered the just one, who resisted you not.

5:7  Wait patiently therefore, my brethren, till the coming of the Lord: behold the husbandman expecteth the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it, till he receive the former and the latter rain.

5:8  Be ye also patient, establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is near.

5:9  Repine not, my brethren, against each other, that ye be not condemned: behold, the judge is at the door.

5:10  Take for an example of enduring evil and of long-suffering the prophets, who spake in the name of the Lord.

5:11  Behold, we account those happy, that are patient. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

5:12  But above all, my brethren, swear not; neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay nay; that ye may not fall under condemnation.

5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray: is any chearful? let him sing psalms.

5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

5:15  and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed: the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

5:17  Elias was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not upon the land for three years and six months:

5:18  and he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth put forth its fruit.

5:19  Brethren, if any among you be seduced from the truth, and one convert him;

5:20  let him know that he, who turneth back a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.