19 So my dear brothers and sisters, note this: Everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak, and should be slow to get angry 20 because when people get very angry, it doesn’t lead to the good behaviour that God expects. 21 So discard all moral filth and the evil that’s plentiful, and humbly accept the message that’s implanted in you all and which is capable of saving your souls.

22 Don’t delude yourselves by just listening to the message, but put it into practice in your daily lives. 23 Anyone who is just a listener of the message and does nothing with it is like someone who looks at their face in a mirror 24 but goes away after having a look and then immediately forgets what they looked like. 25 However the person who investigates the perfect law that gives freedom, and then sticks with it, not being just an observer that forgets about it but rather a person who puts it into practice, this person will prosper in whatever they do.

26 If anyone supposes that they’re religious but doesn’t guard what comes out of their mouth, then that person’s religion is only skin deep and hasn’t affected their heart. 27 A person who wants to truly serve our God and father with a pure heart would be visiting orphans and widows in their difficulties and staying unstained by worldly ideas.