James 1
When faced with trials, consider them a joy, as they test faith and lead to patience and perfection. Those in need of wisdom should ask God with faith, without doubting. The rich will wither away like grass, while the humble will be exalted. Those who suffer temptation and remain faithful will receive the crown of life. God does not tempt, but rather each person is tempted by their own desires, which can lead to sin and death. Every good gift comes from God, and believers should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. They should receive the Word with meekness and be doers of it, not just listeners, and true religion involves caring for orphans and widows and keeping oneself pure.
James, servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, greetingsMy brothers, when you have fallen into various trials, consider everything a joyknowing that the proving of your faith exercises patienceand patience brings a work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole, deficient in nothingBut if anyone among you is in need of wisdom, let him petition God, who gives abundantly to all without reproach, and it shall be given to himBut he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved about by the wind and carried awaythen a man should not consider that he would receive anything from the LordFor a man who is of two minds is inconstant in all his waysNow a humble brother should glory in his exaltationand a rich one, in his humiliation, for he will pass away like the flower of the grassFor the sun has risen with a scorching heat, and has dried the grass, and its flower has fallen off, and the appearance of its beauty has perished. So also will the rich one wither away, according to his pathsBlessed is the man who suffers temptation. For when he has been proven, he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love himNo one should say, when he is tempted, that he was tempted by God. For God does not entice toward evils, and he himself tempts no oneYet truly, each one is tempted by his own desires, having been enticed and drawn awayThereafter, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. Yet truly sin, when it has been consummated, produces deathAnd so, do not choose to go astray, my most beloved brothersEvery excellent gift and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor any shadow of alterationFor by his own will he produced us through the Word of truth, so that we might be a kind of beginning among his creaturesYou know this, my most beloved brothers. So let every man be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to angerFor the anger of man does not accomplish the justice of GodBecause of this, having cast away all uncleanness and an abundance of malice, receive with meekness the newly-grafted Word, which is able to save your soulsSo be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselvesFor if anyone is a listener of the Word, but not also a doer, he is comparable to a man gazing into a mirror upon the face that he was born withand after considering himself, he went away and promptly forgot what he had seenBut he who gazes upon the perfect law of liberty, and who remains in it, is not a forgetful hearer, but instead a doer of the work. He shall be blessed in what he doesBut if anyone considers himself to be religious, but he does not restrain his tongue, but instead seduces his own heart: such a one’s religion is vanityThis is religion, clean and undefiled before God the Father: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulations, and to keep yourself immaculate, apart from this age
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