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Salutation

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

Joy in Trials

² My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. 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. 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. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways.

⁹ Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position. ¹⁰ But the rich person's pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. 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. 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. 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. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. ¹⁵ Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. ¹⁶ Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. 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. 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.

Living Out the Message

¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. ²⁰ For human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. ²¹ So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. ²² But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. 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. ²⁴ For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. 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. ²⁶ If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. 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.