James 1

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

1James, bondman ofGod and of [the] Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which [are] in the dispersion, greeting.

2My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations:

2Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into various temptations,

3Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience

3knowing that the proving of your faith works endurance.

4And patience hath a perfect work: that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.

4But let endurance have [its] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men abundantly and upbraideth not. And it shall be given him.

5But if any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask ofGod, who gives to all freely and reproaches not, and it shall be given to him:

6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind.

6but let him ask in faith, nothing doubting. For he that doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed about;

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

7for let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord;

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

8[he is] a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9But let the brother of low condition glory in his exaltation:

9But let the brother of low degree glory in his elevation,

10And the rich, in his being low: because as the flower of the grass shall he pass away.

10and the rich in his humiliation, because as [the] grass's flower he will pass away.

11For the sun rose with a burning heat and parched the grass: and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished. So also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

11For the sun has risen with its burning heat, and has withered the grass, and its flower has fallen, and the comeliness of its look has perished: thus the rich also shall wither in his goings.

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

12Blessed [is the] man who endures temptation; for, having been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which He has promised to them that love him.

13Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils: and he tempteth no man.

13Let no man, being tempted, say, I am tempted ofGod. ForGod cannot be tempted by evil things, and himself tempts no one.

14But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.

14But every one is tempted, drawn away, and enticed by his own lust;

15Then, when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death.

15then lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin; but sin fully completed brings forth death.

16Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren.

16Do not err, my beloved brethren.

17Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change nor shadow of alteration.

17Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning.

18For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creature.

18According to his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a certain first-fruits of his creatures.

19You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak and slow to anger.

19So that, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

20For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God.

20for man's wrath does not workGod's righteousness.

21Wherefore, casting away all uncleanness and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

21Wherefore, laying aside all filthiness and abounding of wickedness, accept with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

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

22But be ye doers of [the] word and not hearers only, beguiling yourselves.

23For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.

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

24For he beheld himself and went his way and presently forgot what manner of man he was.

24for he has considered himself and is gone away, and straightway he has forgotten what he was like.

25But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed.

25But he that fixes his view on [the] perfect law, that of liberty, and abides in [it], being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of [the] work, he shall be blessed in his doing.

26And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

26If any one think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, this man's religion is vain.

27Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation and to keep one's self unspotted from this world.

27Pure and undefiled religion beforeGod and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, to keep oneself unspotted from the world.