Jas 1
1
James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which
are scattered abroad: Greetings.
2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials,
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knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
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But let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be mature and complete, lacking
nothing.
5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without
reproach, and it shall be given to him.
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But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing, for he that doubts is like a wave of the
sea driven and tossed by the wind.
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For let not that man suppose that he shall receive anything from the Lord;
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he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
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Let the lowly brother rejoice in his exaltation,
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but the rich [man ]in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass
away.
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For the sun arose with burning heat and withered the grass, and its flower fell off,
and its beautiful appearance perished. So the rich man also shall fade away in his
pursuits.
12
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; because when he is approved, he shall receive
the crown of life which the Lord 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, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14
But each [one] is tempted by his own lusts, being drawn away and being seduced [by
them].
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Then lust, when it conceives, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown,
brings forth death.
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Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
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Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father
of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
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Exercising His will He begat us by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits
of His creatures.
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So then, my beloved brothers, let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow
to anger;
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for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
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Therefore laying aside all filthiness and abundance of evil, in meekness receive the
implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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But become doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
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Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this [one] is like a man
observing his natural face in a mirror;
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for he observed himself and has gone away, and immediately forgot what sort of [man]
he was.
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But the [one] who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues [in it], and
is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one shall be blessed in what
he does.
26
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceiving
his heart, the religion of this [man ]is useless.
27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and [the] Father is this: to care for orphans
and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.