James Chapter 1
Greeting
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
The wisdom that comes from God
2 My brothers and sisters, consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
6 But 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.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
9 The humble brother or sister should take pride in their high position,
10 but the rich should take pride in their humiliation, because they will pass away like a flower of the grass.
11 For when the sun rises with scorching heat, the grass withers, its blossom falls, and its beauty perishes; so also will the rich man fade away in all his pursuits.
Withstanding the tests
12Bienaventurado el varón que soporta la tentación; porque cuando haya resistido la prueba, recibirá la corona de vida, que Dios ha prometido a los que le aman.
13Cuando alguno es tentado, no diga que es tentado de parte de Dios; porque Dios no puede ser tentado por el mal, ni él tienta a nadie;
14sino que cada uno es tentado, cuando de su propia concupiscencia es atraído y seducido.
15Entonces la concupiscencia, después que ha concebido, da a luz el pecado; y el pecado, siendo consumado, da a luz la muerte.
16Amados hermanos míos, no erréis.
17Toda buena dádiva y todo don perfecto desciende de lo alto, del Padre de las luces, en el cual no hay mudanza, ni sombra de variación.
18El, de su voluntad, nos hizo nacer por la palabra de verdad, para que seamos primicias de sus criaturas.
Word Makers
19 Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and rampant wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But he who looks intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres in it, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, his religion is worthless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James Chapter 2
Warning against bias
1 My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
2 For if a man comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in,
3 and you show special attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”
4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor. Are not the rich oppressing you? Are they not the ones dragging you into court?
7 Are they not blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12 So speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith without works is dead
14 My brothers and sisters, what good is it if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking daily food.
16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
20 But do you want to be shown, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and faith was perfected by works?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
James Chapter 3
The language
1 My brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers, knowing that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
2 For we all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn their whole bodies.
4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants them to go.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, corrupting the whole body, setting on fire the course of our nature, and set on fire by hell.
7 For every kind of beast and bird, reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be so.
11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
The wisdom from above
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
James Chapter 4
Friendship with the world
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
2 You desire but do not have, so you murder. You covet but you cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. Yet you do not have because you do not ask God.
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says to no end, “He yearns jealously for the Spirit he has caused to dwell in us”?
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be wretched, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Judging the brother
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Do not boast about tomorrow.
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, to him it is sin.
James Chapter 5
Against the rich oppressors
1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.
2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who did not resist you.
Be patient and pray
7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and late rains.
8 You also must be patient and stand firm, because the coming of the Lord is near.
9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10 As an example of patience in the face of suffering, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12 Above all, brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or earth or by anything else. but let your yes be yes, and your no be no, so that you may not fall into condemnation.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and for three and a half years it did not rain on the land.
18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
19 Brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,
20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.