James 1 — Legacy Standard Bible

Testing Your Faith

1¹^,^aJames, a ^bslave of God and ^cof the Lord Jesus Christ, To ^dthe twelve tribes who are in the ^eDispersion: ^fGreetings.

²^aConsider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter ^bvarious ¹trials, ³knowing that ^athe testing of your ^bfaith brings about ^cperseverance. ⁴And let ^aperseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be ¹^,^bperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵But if any of you ^alacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and ¹without reproach, and ^bit will be given to him. ⁶But he must ^aask in faith, ^bdoubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, ^cdriven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸being a ¹^,^adouble-minded man, ^bunstable in all his ways.

⁹^aBut the ¹brother of humble circumstances is to boast in his high position; ¹⁰and the rich man is to boast in his humiliation, because ^alike ¹flowering grass he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with ¹^,^aa scorching heat and ^bwithers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

¹²^aBlessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has ¹been approved, he will receive ^bthe crown of life which the Lord ^chas promised to those who ^dlove Him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “^aI am being tempted ¹by God”; for God cannot be tempted ²by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵Then ^awhen lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when ^bsin is fully matured, it brings forth death. ¹⁶^aDo not be ¹deceived, ^bmy beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good thing given and every perfect gift is ^afrom above, coming down from ^bthe Father of lights, ^cwith whom there is no variation or ¹shifting shadow. ¹⁸In the exercise of ^aHis will He ^bbrought us forth by ^cthe word of truth, so that we would be ¹a kind of ^dfirst fruits ²among His creatures.

Doers of the Word

¹⁹¹^,^aKnow this, ^bmy beloved brothers. But everyone must be quick to hear, ^cslow to speak and ^dslow to anger; ²⁰for ^athe anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore, ^alaying aside all filthiness and all ¹that remains of wickedness, in gentleness receive ^bthe implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²²^aBut become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his ¹natural face ^ain a mirror; ²⁴for once he looked at himself and has gone away, ¹he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. ²⁵But one who looks intently at the perfect law, ^athe law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be ^bblessed in ¹what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not ¹^,^abridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷Pure and undefiled religion ^abefore our God and Father is this: to ^bvisit ^corphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained ¹by ^dthe world.