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.