James 1
New Living Translation
Greetings from James
1 This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.
Greetings!
Faith and Endurance
2 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
9 Believers who are[b] poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong,[c] and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.[d] He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.[e] 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.[f]
Listening and Doing
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger[g] does not produce the righteousness[h] God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Footnotes
- 1:2 Greek brothers; also in 1:16, 19.
- 1:9 Greek The brother who is.
- 1:13 Or God should not be put to a test by evil people.
- 1:17a Greek from above, from the Father of lights.
- 1:17b Some manuscripts read He never changes, as a shifting shadow does.
- 1:18 Greek we became a kind of firstfruit of his creatures.
- 1:20a Greek A man’s anger.
- 1:20b Or the justice.
James 1
Tree of Life Version
Greetings
1 Jacob, a slave of God and of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah,
To the twelve tribes in the Diaspora:
Shalom!
Rejoice in Trials
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren,[a] when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,[b] who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting—for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord— 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 But let the brother in humble circumstances boast in his high position— 10 and the rich person in his humble position, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun arises with a scorching heat and withers the grass, and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed.[c] So also the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.
12 Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has stood the test, he will 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 being tempted by God”—for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is full grown, it brings forth death.[d]
16 Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18 By His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.[e]
Quick to Listen, Slow to Anger
19 Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger[f]— 20 for human anger doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. 21 So put away all moral filth and excess of evil and receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror— 24 for once he looks at himself and goes away, he immediately forgets what sort of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect Torah, the Torah that gives freedom, and continues in it, not becoming a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts—he shall be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and yet does not bridle his tongue[g] but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is futile. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress,[h] and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Footnotes
- James 1:2 Or brethren (Grk. adelphoi); brothers, often an audience of males and females.
- James 1:5 cf. 1 Kings 3:9-12; Prov. 2:3-6.
- James 1:11 cf. Isa. 40:7-8.
- James 1:15 cf. Ps. 7:14; Isa. 59:4.
- James 1:18 cf. Jer. 2:3.
- James 1:19 cf. Prov. 10:19; 17:27; 16:32; Eccl. 7:9.
- James 1:26 cf. Ps. 39:1; 141:3.
- James 1:27 cf. Deut. 14:29; Job 31:16-17; Ps. 146:9; Isa. 1:17, 23.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.