¹James, a slave of God and of the  ²Lord Jesus Christ, to the  ³twelve tribes in the  ⁴dispersion:  ⁵Rejoice!

Count it all joy, my brothers, whenever you fall into various  ¹trials,

Knowing that the proving of your  ¹faith works out endurance.

And let endurance have its perfect work that you may be  ¹perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

But if any one of you lacks  ¹wisdom, let him  ²ask of God, who gives to all  ³liberally and does  ⁴not reproach, and it will be given to him.

But let him ask in faith,  ¹doubting nothing, for he who doubts is like the surge of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about.

For that man must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

He is a  ¹double-souled man, unstable in all his ways.

And let the lowly brother  ¹boast in his  ²exaltation,

And the  ¹rich in his being brought low, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

For the  ¹sun rises with its  ²scorching heat and withers the grass, and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the  ³rich man will fade away in his pursuits.

Blessed is the man who endures  ¹trial, because when he has become  ²approved by testing, he will receive the  ³crown of  ⁴life, which He promised to those who  ⁵love Him.

Let no one say when he is  ¹tempted, I am tempted  ²of God; for God  ³cannot be tempted of evil, and He Himself  ⁴tempts no one.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own lusts;

Then the lust, having conceived,  ¹gives birth to sin; and the sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

All good giving and every perfect  ¹gift is from above, coming down from the  ²Father of lights, with whom is no  ³variation or shadow cast by turning.

He  ¹brought us forth by the  ²word of truth,  ³purposing that we might be a kind of  ⁴firstfruits of His creatures.

 ¹You know this, my beloved brothers; but let every man be quick to hear,  ²slow to speak, slow to wrath;

For the  ¹wrath of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

Therefore putting away all filthiness and the abundance of malice, receive in meekness the  ¹implanted word, which is able to  ²save your souls.

And become doers of the word and not hearers only, who delude themselves.

Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one is like a man considering in a mirror the face he was born with;

For he considers himself and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he is.

But he who  ¹looks into the  ²perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues in it, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in his doing.

If anyone thinks himself to be  ¹religious and yet does  ²not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this one's religion is vain.

This is pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father: to visit  ¹orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself  ²unspotted from the  ³world.

My brothers, do not hold the  ¹faith of our Lord Jesus Christ  ²of glory with respect of persons.

For if there comes into your  ¹synagogue a man with gold rings in splendid clothing, and there also comes in a poor man in filthy clothing,

And you look upon the one wearing the splendid clothing and say, You sit here in a good place, and to the poor man you say, You stand there, or sit under my footstool;

Have you not made  ¹distinctions  ²among yourselves and become judges with evil reasonings?

Listen, my beloved brothers: Did not God choose the poor  ¹in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the  ²kingdom, which He promised to those who  ³love Him?

But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and is it not they who drag you to the  ¹courts?

Is it not they who blaspheme the  ¹honorable name  ²by which you are called?

If indeed you are fulfilling the  ¹royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall  ²love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;

But if you respect persons, you  ¹commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

For whoever  ¹keeps the whole law yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all.

For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

 ¹So speak and so do as those who are to be judged by the  ²law of freedom.

For the judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy; mercy  ¹triumphs over judgment.

What is the profit, my brothers, if anyone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith  ¹save him?

If a brother or sister  ¹is without clothing and lacks daily food,

And any one of you says to them,  ¹Go in peace, be warmed and filled, yet you do not give them the  ²necessities of the body, what is the profit?

So also  ¹faith, if it does not have works, is dead  ²in itself.

But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe and shudder.

But are you willing to know, O vain man, that faith without its works is  ¹useless?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?

You see that faith worked together with his works, and by these works faith was perfected.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.

You see that a man is  ¹justified by works and not by faith only.

And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works in that she received the messengers and  ¹sent them out by a different way?

For just as the body without the  ¹spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Do not become many  ¹teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive greater  ²judgment.

For in many things we all stumble. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

Now if we put bridles into the mouths of horses that they would obey us, we direct their whole body as well.

Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the pilot wills.

So also the tongue is a little member yet boasts great things. Behold, how great a forest so little a  ¹fire ignites!

And the tongue is a  ¹fire; the very world of unrighteousness, the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the whole body and sets on fire the  ²course of life and is set on fire by  ³Gehenna.

For every nature, both of beasts and of birds, both of reptiles and of creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human  ¹nature;

But the tongue no one among men is able to tame; it is a  ¹restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made according to the likeness of God.

Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, ought not to be so.

Does the spring, out of the same  ¹opening, gush forth the sweet and the bitter?

Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives? Or a vine, figs? Neither can  ¹salt water produce sweet.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show  ¹by his good manner of life his  ²works in  ³meekness of wisdom.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth.

 ¹This wisdom is not that which descends from above, but is  ²earthly, soulish, demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there disorder and every worthless practice are.

But the  ¹wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,  ²forbearing,  ³compliant, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, without hypocrisy.

And the  ¹fruit of righteousness is sown in peace  ²by those who make peace.

Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Are they not from this, from your  ¹pleasures that war in your members?

You  ¹lust and do not have; you murder and are jealous and are not able to obtain; you fight and make war. You do not have because you do not ask;

You ask and do not receive because you ask evilly that you may spend it on your pleasures.

 ¹Adulteresses, do you not know that the  ²friendship of the  ³world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever determines to be a friend of the world is constituted an  ⁴enemy of God.

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain: The  ¹Spirit, whom He has caused to  ²dwell in us, longs unto envy?

But He gives greater grace; therefore  ¹it says,  ²“God resists the  ³proud but gives grace to the humble.”

 ¹Be subject therefore to God; but  ²withstand the  ³devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you  ¹double-souled!

 ¹Endure misery and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into dejection.

 ¹Be humbled before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a  ¹doer of the law but a judge.

One is Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and destroy. But who are you who judge your neighbor?

Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we  ¹will go into this or that city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit;

Whereas you do not know the matter of tomorrow, what your life will be; for you are a  ¹vapor, which appears for a little while and then disappears.

Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.

But now you boast in your  ¹arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

 ¹Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Come now, you  ¹rich, weep, howling over your miseries, which are coming upon you!

Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten;

Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.

Behold, the wages of the workmen who mowed your fields, which have been withheld by you, cry out; and the  ¹cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the  ²Lord of hosts.

You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have given yourselves to pleasure; you have  ¹nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.

You condemned, you murdered the  ¹righteous; he does not resist you.

Therefore be  ¹long-suffering, brothers, until the  ²coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer eagerly awaits the precious fruit of the earth, exercising long-suffering over it until it receives the early and late rain.

You also be  ¹long-suffering; establish your hearts because the  ²coming of the Lord has drawn near.

Do not  ¹complain, brothers, against one another lest you be judged. Behold, the  ²Judge stands before the doors.

As an example, brothers, of  ¹suffering evil and of  ²long-suffering, take the prophets, who spoke  ³in the name of the Lord.

Behold, we call those who  ¹endured blessed. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen his end from the Lord, that the Lord is very tenderhearted and compassionate.

But  ¹above all things, my brothers, do  ²not swear, neither by heaven nor by earth nor with any other oath; but let your  ³yes be yes, and your no, no,  ⁴lest you fall under judgment.

Does anyone among you suffer evil? Let him  ¹pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him  ²sing praise.

Is anyone among you  ¹ill? Let him  ²call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him,  ³anointing him with oil  ⁴in the name of the Lord.

And the  ¹prayer of faith will save the one who is  ²sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has  ³committed sins, it will be forgiven him.

Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The petition of a righteous man  ¹avails much in its working.

Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and he  ¹earnestly prayed that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

And he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth sprouted forth with its fruit.

My brothers, if any one among you is  ¹led astray from the truth and someone turns him back,

Let him know that he who turns a  ¹sinner back from the error of his way will  ²save that one's soul from  ³death and will  ⁴cover a multitude of  ⁵sins.