James 1
Worldwide English (New Testament)
1 I am James. I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I send greetings to all of God's people wherever they live.
2 My brothers, be very happy when you are tested by having troubles of many kinds.
3 You know this, that when you prove you believe, you become stronger to take troubles.
4 But you must keep on being strong to take trouble. Then you will be all right in every way. You will not need anything more.
5 If any of you need to be wise, ask God to make you wise. He gives plenty of wisdom to all people. He is not angry because you ask him. He will make you wise.
6 But when you ask, you must believe that God will do it. You must not doubt and think, `Perhaps God will not do it.' A person who doubts is like a wave on the sea. The wind drives it this way and that way.
7 That person must not think that he will get anything from the Lord.
8 A person like that has two minds. He cannot go straight in any of his ways.
9 A Christian brother who is poor should be glad: he is in a high place now he is a Christian.
10 A Christian brother who is rich should be glad: he is in a low place now he is a Christian. A rich man will pass away like a flower on the grass.
11 The sun shines and is very hot. Then the grass dries and its flower falls off. It was nice at first, but now it is not nice any more. In the same way, the rich man will die while he is going around trying to make money.
12 God will bless any man who is strong to take his trouble, when he is being tested. When he has proved he is strong, he will live for ever. That is what the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 No one who wants to do something wrong should say, `God is trying to make me do this wrong thing.' God cannot do anything wrong.
14 It is their own heart which is wrong. That is why he wants to do something wrong. It fools him.
15 Then the wrong in his heart makes him do the wrong thing. And the wrong thing he has done leads to death.
16 My dear brothers, do not fool yourselves.
17 Every good thing and every fine gift comes from heaven. It comes from the Father of all light. He does not change and he makes no shadow by turning.
18 He made us his children because he wanted us. He made us his children by giving us his true word. He made us his children so that we would be the first and best of all he made.
19 My dear brothers, do not forget this. Every man should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to be angry.
20 When a man is angry, he does not do what God says is right.
21 So stop all your dirty living. Stop doing so many wrong things. Listen quietly to the word that has been put in your hearts. It is able to save you.
22 But obey God's word. Do not just listen to it. If you just listen to it, you fool yourselves.
23 Anyone who just listens to the word, and does not obey it, is like a man who looks at his face in a looking glass.
24 He looks at himself and goes away, and right away he forgets what he looked like.
25 But there is a law that is all right. It sets people free from their old ways. Anyone who looks into that law and remembers it, is happy because he obeys the law. He does not just listen to the law and forget it, but he obeys what the law says.
26 Some of you think that you are doing what God wants. But you are not careful what you say. If you are like that, you are fooling yourself. And you are not doing what God wants.
27 This is what God the Father wants. It is clean and right. Go and help those who have no father and mother. Go and help widow women whose husbands are dead. These people have troubles. And keep yourself clean from the wrong things in the world.
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
Easy-to-Read Version
1 Greetings from James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To God’s people[a] who are scattered all over the world.
Faith and Wisdom
2 My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. 3 You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. 4 If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.
5 Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom. 6 But when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind. 7-8 People like that are thinking two different things at the same time. They can never decide what to do. So they should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.
True Riches
9 Believers who are poor should be glad that God considers them so important. 10 Believers who are rich should be glad when bad things happen that humble them. Their riches won’t keep them from disappearing as quickly as wildflowers. 11 As the sun rises and gets hotter, its heat dries up the plants, and the flowers fall off. The flowers that were so beautiful are now dead. That’s how it is with the rich. While they are still making plans for their business, they will die.
Temptation Does Not Come From God
12 Great blessings belong to those who are tempted and remain faithful! After they have proved their faith, God will give them the reward[b] of eternal life. God promised this to all people who love him. 13 Whenever you feel tempted to do something bad, you should not say, “God is tempting me.” Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. 14 You are tempted by the evil things you want. Your own desire leads you away and traps you. 15 Your desire grows inside you until it results in sin. Then the sin grows bigger and bigger and finally ends in death.
16 My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled about this. 17 Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18 God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created.
Listening and Obeying
19 My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger. 20 Anger does not help you live the way God wants. 21 So get rid of everything evil in your lives—every kind of wrong you do. Be humble and accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts. This teaching can save you.
22 Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. 23 Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror 24 and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. 25 But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard.
The True Way to Worship God
26 You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. 27 The worship that God wants is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help and keeping yourself free from the world’s evil influence. This is the kind of worship that God accepts as pure and good.
Footnotes
- James 1:1 God’s people Literally, “the twelve tribes.” Believers in Christ are like the tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people in the Old Testament.
- James 1:12 reward Literally, “wreath,” a ring of leaves or branches that was placed on the head of the winners of athletic contests to honor them. It was a symbol of victory and reward.
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