Moses Commands Obedience

4 “Now, O Israel, listen to ^(A)the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and ^[a]possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. ^2 (B)You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

⁶ Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is ^(A)your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

⁷ “For ^(B)what great nation is there that has ^(C)God^[a] so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? ⁸ And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? ⁹ Only take heed to yourself, and diligently ^(D)keep yourself, lest you ^(E)forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And ^(F)teach them to your children and your grandchildren,

^17 (A)Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, ^(B)with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ^18 (C)Of His own will He brought us forth by the ^(D)word of truth, ^(E)that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Qualities Needed in Trials

^19 [a]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, ^(F)slow to speak, ^(G)slow to wrath; ²⁰ for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Doers—Not Hearers Only

²¹ Therefore ^(H)lay aside all filthiness and ^[b]overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, ^(I)which is able to save your souls.

²² But ^(J)be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For ^(K)if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ²⁵ But ^(L)he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, ^(M)this one will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶ If anyone ^[c]among you thinks he is religious, and ^(N)does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. ^27 (O)Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: ^(P)to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, ^(Q)and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.