\NormalFont\ShortTitle{James}
{\MTB The Letter from
\par }{\MT James

\par }\ChapOne{1}{\SH Greeting
\par }{\PP \VerseOne{1}James,
a
servant
of
God
and
of
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ, greets
the
twelve
tribes
that
are
living
abroad.
\par }{\SH Advice
on
Various
Subjects
\par }{\PP \VS{2}My
friends,
whatever
trials
you
may
face
from
time
to
time,
always
regard
them
as
a
reason
for
rejoicing,
\VS{3}knowing,
as
you
do,
that
the
testing
of
your
faith develops
endurance.
\VS{4}And
let
endurance
do
its
work
perfectly,
so
that
you
may
be
altogether
perfect,
and
in
no
respect
lacking.
\par }{\PP \VS{5}If
any
one
of
you
lacks
wisdom,
they
should
ask
wisdom
from
the
God
who
gives
freely
to
everyone
without
reproach,
and
it
will
be
given
to
them.
\VS{6}But
they
should
ask
with
confidence,
never
doubting;
for
the
person
who
doubts
is
like
a
wave
of
the
sea
driven
here
and
there
at
the
mercy
of
the
wind –
\VS{7}Such
a
person
must
not
expect
that
they
will
receive
anything
from
the
Lord,
\VS{8}vacillating
as
they
are, irresolute
at
every
turn.
\par }{\PP \VS{9}Let
a follower
in
humble
circumstances
be
proud
of
their
exalted
position,
\VS{10}but
a
rich follower
of
their
humiliation;
for
the
rich
will
pass
away
like
a
wild
flower.
\VS{11}As
the
sun
rises,
and
the
hot
wind
blows,
the
plant
withers,
its
flower
fades,
and
all
its
beauty
is
gone.
So
is
it
with
the
rich.
In
the
midst
of
their
pursuits
they
will
wither
away.
\par }{\PP \VS{12}Blessed
is
the
person
who
remains
firm
under
temptation,
for,
when
they
have
stood
the
test,
they
will
receive
the
crown
of
life,
which
the
Lord
has
promised
to
those
who
love
him.
\VS{13}Let
no
one
say,
when
they
are
tempted, ‘It
is
God
who
is
tempting
me!’
For
God,
who
cannot
be
tempted
to
do
wrong,
does
not
himself
tempt
anyone.
\VS{14}A
man
is
in
every
case
tempted
by
their
own
passions – allured
and
enticed
by
them.
\VS{15}Then
passion
conceives
and
gives
birth
to
sin,
and
sin,
on
reaching
maturity,
brings
forth
death.
\VS{16}Do
not
be
deceived,
my
dear
friends.
\VS{17}Every
good
thing
given
us,
and
every
perfect
gift,
is
from
above,
and
comes
down
to
us
from
the
Father
of
the
lights
in
the
heavens,
who
is
himself
never
subject
to
change
or
to
eclipse.
\VS{18}Because
he
so willed,
he
gave
us
life,
through
the
message
of
the
truth,
so
that
we
should
be,
as
it
were,
a
kind
of
first
fruits
of
his
creation.
\par }{\BB \par }{\PP \VS{19}Mark
this,
my
dear
friends –
Let
everyone
be
quick
to
listen,
slow
to
speak,
and
slow
to
get
angry;
\VS{20}for
human
anger
does
not
forward
the
righteous
purpose
of
God.
\VS{21}Therefore,
get
rid
of
all
filthiness
and
whatever
wickedness
still
remains,
and
in
a
humble
spirit
receive
that
message
which
has
been
planted
in
your
hearts
and
is
able
to
save
your
souls.
\VS{22}Put
that
message
into
practice,
and
do
not
merely
listen
to
it –
deceiving
yourselves.
\VS{23}For,
when
anyone
listens
to
it
and
does
not
practice
it,
they
are
like
a
person
looking
at
their
own
face
in
a
mirror.
\VS{24}They
look
at
themselves,
then
go
on
their
way,
\VS{25}but
the
person
who
looks
carefully
into
the
perfect
Law,
the
Law
of
freedom,
and
continues
to
do
so,
not
listening
to
it
and
then
forgetting
it,
but
putting
it
into
practice –
that
person
will
be
blessed
in
what
they
do.
\VS{26}When
a
person
appears
to
be
religious,
yet
does
not
bridle
their
tongue,
but imposes
on
their
own
conscience,
that
person’s
religious observances
are valueless.
\VS{27}That religious
observance
which
is
pure
and spotless
in
the
eyes
of
God
our
Father
is
this –
to
visit
orphans
and
widows
in
their
trouble,
and
to
keep
oneself uncontaminated
by
the
world.

\par }\Chap{2}{\SH Warning on Various Subjects
\par }{\PP \VerseOne{1}My
friends,
are
you
really
trying
to
combine
faith
in
Jesus
Christ,
our
glorified
Lord,
with discrimination?
\VS{2}Suppose
a visitor
should
enter
your
synagogue,
with
gold
rings
and
in grand
clothes,
and
suppose
a
poor
man
should
come
in
also,
in shabby
clothes,
\VS{3}and
you
show
more
respect
to
the visitor
who
is
wearing grand
clothes,
and
say – ‘There
is
a
good
seat
for
you
here,’
but
to
the
poor
man – ‘You
must
stand;
or
sit
down
there
by
my
footstool,’
\VS{4}Haven’t
you
made
distinctions
among
yourselves,
and
used
evil
standards
of judgement?
\VS{5}Listen,
my
dear
friends.
Has
not
God
chosen
those
who
are
poor
in
the
things
of
this
world
to
be
rich
through
their
faith,
and
to
possess
the
kingdom
which
he
has
promised
to
those
who
love
him?
\VS{6}But
you –
you
insult
the
poor
man!
Isn’t
it
the
rich
who
oppress
you?
Isn’t
it
they
who
drag
you
into
law
courts?
\VS{7}Isn’t
it
they
who malign
that
honourable
name
spoken
over
you
at
your baptism?
\VS{8}If
you
keep
the
royal
law
which
runs – “You
must
love
your
neighbour
as
you
love
yourself,”
you
are
doing
right;
\VS{9}but,
if
you
discriminate,
you
commit
a
sin,
and
stand
convicted
by
that
same
law
of
being
offenders
against
it.
\VS{10}For
a
person
who
has
laid
the
Law,
as
a
whole,
to
heart,
but
has
failed
in
one
particular,
is
accountable
for
breaking
all
its
provisions.
\VS{11}He
who
said “You
must
not
commit
adultery”
also
said “You
must
not
murder.”
If,
then,
you
commit
murder
but
not
adultery,
you
are
still
an
offender
against
the
Law.
\VS{12}Therefore,
speak
and
act
as
people
who
are
to
be
judged
by
the “Law
of
freedom.”
\VS{13}For
there
will
be
justice
without
mercy
for
the
person
who
has
not
acted mercifully.
Mercy
triumphs
over
Justice.
\par }{\PP \VS{14}My
friends,
what
good
is
it
if
someone
claims
that
they
have
faith,
but
they
do
not
prove
it
by
actions?
Can
such
faith
save
them?
\VS{15}Suppose
some
brother
or
sister
should
be
in
need
of
clothes
and
of
daily
bread,
\VS{16}and
one
of
you
says
to
them – ‘Go,
and
peace
be
with
you;
keep
warm
and
eat
well!’
and
yet
you
do
not
actually
give
them
the necessities
of
life,
what
good
would
it
be
to
them?
\VS{17}In
just
the
same
way
faith,
if
not
followed
by
actions,
is,
by
itself,
a lifeless
thing.
\VS{18}Someone,
indeed,
may
say – ‘You
are
a
man
of
faith,
and
I
am
a
man
of
action.’
\par }{\PP ‘Then
show
me
your
faith,’
I
reply, ‘apart
from
any
actions,
and
I
will
show
you
my
faith
by
my
actions.’
\VS{19}It
is
a
part
of
your
faith,
is
it
not,
that
there
is
one
God?
Good;
yet
even
the
demons
have
that
faith,
and
tremble
at
the
thought.
\VS{20}Now
do
you
really
want
to
understand,
fool,
how
it
is
that
faith
without
actions
leads
to
nothing?
\VS{21}Look
at
our
ancestor,
Abraham.
Was
he
not
justified
by
his
actions
after
he
had
offered
his
son,
Isaac,
on
the
altar?
\VS{22}You
see
how,
in
his
case,
faith
and
actions
went
together;
that
his
faith
was
perfected
as
the
result
of
his
actions;
\VS{23}and
that
in
this
way
the
words
of
scripture
came
true – ‘Abraham
believed
God,
and
that
was
regarded
by
God
as
righteousness,’
and ‘He
was
called
the
friend
of
God.’
\VS{24}You
see,
then,
that
a
person
is
justified
by
actions,
and
not
by
faith
alone.
\VS{25}Wasn’t
it
the
same
with
the
prostitute,
Rahab?
Was
she
not
justified
by
her
actions,
after
she
had
welcomed
the
messengers
and
helped
them
escape
by
another
road?
\VS{26}Just
as
a
body
is
dead
without
a
spirit,
so
faith
is
dead
without
actions.

\par }\Chap{3}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Not
many
of
you
should
become
teachers,
my
friends,
because
you
know
that
we
who
teach
will
be
judged
more
strictly
than
others.
\VS{2}We
often
make mistakes,
every
one
of
us.
Anyone
who
does
not
make mistakes
when
speaking
is
indeed
a
perfect
person,
able
to
bridle
their
whole
body
as
well.
\VS{3}When
we
put
bits
into
horses’
mouths
to
make
them
obey
us,
we
change
their
course
the
rest
of
their
bodies.
\VS{4}Again,
think
of
ships.
Large
as
they
are,
and
even
when
driven
by
fierce
winds,
they
are
guided
by
a
very
small
rudder
and steered
in
whatever
direction
the
man
at
the
helm
may
determine.
\VS{5}So
is
it
with
the
tongue.
Small
as
it
is,
it
is
a
great boaster.
Think
how
a tiny
spark
may
set
the largest
forest
ablaze!
\VS{6}And
the
tongue
is
like
a
spark.
It
is
a
world
of
unrighteousness
among
the
parts
of
our
body.
It contaminates
the
whole
body;
it
sets
the
whole
course
of
our existence
on
fire,
and
is
itself
set
on
fire
by
the
flames
of Gehenna.
\VS{7}For
while
all
kinds
of
animals,
birds
and
reptiles
and
sea
creatures
can
be
tamed
and
have
been
tamed
by humans,
\VS{8}no
human
being
can
tame
the
tongue.
It
is
a
restless
plague!
It
is
charged
with
deadly
poison!
\VS{9}With
it
we
bless
our
Lord
and
Father,
and
with
it
we
curse
people
who
are
made “in
God’s
likeness.”
\VS{10}From
the
very
same
mouth
come
blessings
and
curses!
My
friends,
it
is
not
right
that
this
should
be
so.
\VS{11}Does
a
spring
give
both
good
and
bad
water
from
the
same
source?
\VS{12}Can
a
fig
tree,
my
friends,
bear
olives?
Or
a
vine
bear
figs?
No,
nor
can
a brackish
well
give
good
water.
\par }{\PP \VS{13}Who
among
you
claims
to
be
wise
and
intelligent?
They
should
show
that
their
actions
are
the
outcome
of
a
good
life
lived
in
the
humility
of
true
wisdom.
\VS{14}But
if
you harbour
bitter
envy
and
a
spirit
of
rivalry
in
your
hearts,
do
not
boast
or
deny
the
truth.
\VS{15}That
is
not
the
wisdom
which
comes
from
above;
no,
it
is
earthly, animalistic,
demonic.
\VS{16}For
where
envy
and
rivalry exist,
there
you
will
also
find disorder
and
all
kinds
of
bad,
worthless
actions.
\VS{17}But
the
wisdom
from
above
is,
before
everything
else,
pure;
then peace-loving,
gentle,
open
to conviction,
rich
in
compassion
and
good
deeds,
and
free
from
partiality
and insincerity.
\VS{18}Justice
is
the
harvest peacemakers
will
reap
from
seeds
sown
in
a
spirit
of
peace.

\par }{\BB \par }\Chap{4}{\PP \VerseOne{1}What
is
the
cause
of
the
fighting
and quarrelling
that
goes
on
among
you?
Isn’t
it
to
be
found
in
the
desires
which
are
always
at
war
within
you?
\VS{2}You
crave,
yet
do
not
have,
so
you
commit
murder,
so
You
covet,
yet
cannot
gain
your
end.
You
quarrel
and
fight.
You
do
not
have,
because
you
do
not
ask.
\VS{3}You
ask,
yet
do
not
receive,
because
you
ask
for
a
wrong
purpose –
to
spend
what
you
get
on
your
pleasures.
\VS{4}Unfaithful
people!
Don’t
you
know
that
to
be
friends
with
the
world
means
to
be
at
enmity
with
God?
Therefore
whoever
chooses
to
be
friends
with
the
world
makes
himself
an
enemy
to
God.
\VS{5}Do
you
suppose
scripture
means
nothing
when
it
says, “Envy
results
from
the longings
of
the
spirit
which
God
has implanted
within
you?”
\VS{6}But
he
gives
us
greater
grace;
and
that
is
why
it
says, –
\par }{\Q “God
opposes
the
haughty,
\par }{\QB but
gives
grace
to
the
humble.”
\par }{\BB \par }{\MM \VS{7}Therefore
submit
to
God.
Stand
up
to
the
devil,
and
he
will
flee
from
you.
\VS{8}Draw
near
to
God,
and
he
will
draw
near
to
you.
Make
your
hands
clean,
you
sinners;
and
your
hearts
pure,
you vacillators!
\VS{9}Grieve,
mourn,
and
lament!
Let
your
laughter
be
turned
to
mourning,
and
your
happiness
to
gloom!
\VS{10}Humble
yourselves
before
the
Lord,
and
he
will
exalt
you.
\VS{11}Do
not disparage
one
another,
friends.
The
person
who disparages
others,
or
passes
judgment
on
them, disparages
the
Law
and
passes
judgment
on
the
Law.
But,
if
you
pass
judgment
on
the
Law,
you
are
not
obeying
it,
but
judging
it.
\VS{12}There
is
only
one
lawgiver
and
judge –
he
who
has
the
power
both
to
save
and
to
destroy.
So
then
who
are
you
to
pass
judgment
on
your
neighbour?
\par }{\BB \par }{\PP \VS{13}Listen
to
me,
you
who
say “Today
or
tomorrow
we
will
go
to
such
and
such
a
town
and
spend
a
year
there,
doing
business
and
making
money,”
\VS{14}yet
you
do
not
know
what
your
life
will
be
like
tomorrow!
For
you
are
but
a puff
of
smoke
that
appears
for
a
little
while
and
then
vanishes.
\VS{15}Instead
you
should
say “If
the
Lord
wills,
we
will
live
and
do
this
or
that.”
\VS{16}But
as
it
is,
you
are
boasting
presumptuously!
All
such
boasting
is
wicked.
\VS{17}The
person,
then,
who
knows
what
is
right
but
fails
to
do
it –
that
is
sin
in
them.

\par }\Chap{5}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Listen
to
me,
you
rich
people,
weep
and
wail
for
the
miseries
that
are
coming
upon
you!
\VS{2}Your
riches
have
wasted
away,
and
your
clothes
have
become
moth-eaten.
\VS{3}Your
gold
and
silver
are
rusted;
and
the
rust
on
them
will
be
evidence
against
you,
and
will
eat
into
your
flesh.
It
was
fire,
so
to
speak,
that
you
stored
up
for
yourselves
in
these
last
days.
\VS{4}Listen!
The
wages
you
have
held
back
from
the
labourers
who mowed
your
fields
are
crying
out
against
you,
and
the outcries
of
your
harvesters
have
reached
the
ears
of
the
Lord
of
Hosts!
\VS{5}You
have
lived
on
earth
a
life
of extravagance
and
luxury;
you
have indulged
your fancies
in
a
time
of
bloodshed.
\VS{6}You
have
condemned,
you
have
murdered,
the
righteous
one!
Must
not
God
be
opposed
to
you?
\par }{\SH Concluding
Appeal
\par }{\PP \VS{7}Be
patient,
then,
friends,
until
the
coming
of
the
Lord.
Even
the
farmer
has
to
wait
for
the
precious
fruit
of
the
earth,
watching
over
it
patiently,
until
it
has
had
the
spring
and
summer
rains.
\VS{8}And
you
must
be
patient
also,
and
not
be
discouraged;
for
the
Lord’s
coming
is
near.
\VS{9}Do
not
make
complaints
against
one
another,
friends,
or
judgment
will
be
passed
on
you.
The
judge
is
already
standing
at
the
door!
\VS{10}Friends,
as
an
example
of
the
patient endurance
of
suffering,
take
the
prophets
who
spoke
in
the
name
of
the
Lord.
\VS{11}We
count
those
who
displayed
such
endurance
blessed!
You
have
heard,
too,
of
Job’s
endurance,
and
have
seen
what
the
Lord’s
purpose
was,
for “the
Lord
is
full
of
pity
and
compassion.”
\par }{\PP \VS{12}Above
all
things,
my
friends,
never
take
an
oath,
either
by
heaven,
or
by
earth,
or
by
anything
else.
Let
your “Yes”
suffice
for
yes,
and “No”
for
no,
so
that
you
may
escape
condemnation.
\par }{\PP \VS{13}If
anyone
of
you
is
in
trouble,
they
should
pray;
if
anyone
is
happy,
they
should
sing
hymns.
\VS{14}If
anyone
of
you
is
ill,
they
should
send
for
the
church
elders,
and
let
them
pray
over
them,
anointing
them
with
oil
in
the
name
of
the
Lord.
\VS{15}The
prayer
offered
in
faith
will
save
the
person
who
is
sick,
and
the
Lord
will
raise
them
from
their
bed;
and
if
they
have
committed
sins,
they
will
be
forgiven.
\VS{16}Therefore,
confess
your
sins
to
one
another
and
pray
for
one
another,
so
that
you
may
be
cured.
Great
is
the
power
of
a
good
person’s
fervent
prayer.
\VS{17}Elijah
was
only
human
like
ourselves,
but,
when
he
prayed fervently
that
it
might
not
rain,
no
rain
fell
on
the
land
for
three
and
a
half
years.
\VS{18}And,
when
he
prayed
again,
the
clouds
brought
rain,
and
the
land
bore
crops.
\VS{19}My
friends,
should
one
of
you
be
led
astray
from
the
truth,
and
someone
bring
them
back
again,
\VS{20}be
sure
that
the
person
who
brings
a
sinner
back
from
their mistaken
ways
will
save
that
person’s
soul
from
death,
and
will
cover
a
multitude
of
sins.\par }