1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.
2My brothers and sisters, consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
6But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
8They are double-minded and unstable in all they do.
9Believers who are poor should be proud that God has given them high standing.
10But the rich should be proud that God has humbled them, because they will fade away like a flower in the grass.
11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the grass; its flowers fall, and its beauty perishes. In the same way, the rich will fade away in the middle of their busy lives.
12Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for after he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
14But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.
17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
19My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
20because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22But do what the word says, and don’t just listen to it and deceive yourselves.
23Because if anyone listens to the word but doesn’t do what it says, they are like a person who looks at their face in a mirror,
24then walks away and immediately forgets what they looked like.
25But the person who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do what it says—not just listening and forgetting, but actively doing it—that person will be blessed in what they do.
26If anyone among you thinks they are religious but does not control their tongue, they are deceiving themselves, and their religion is worthless.
27Pure and faultless religion in the eyes of God our Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.