Shared Word Translation
James 1
Greeting
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion: greetings.
Trials and Wisdom
Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you fall into trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full work, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to you. But ask in faith, doubting nothing; for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded, unstable in all his ways.
High and Low
Let the lowly believer boast in being lifted up, and the rich in being humbled, because like a flower in the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich one fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
The Crown of Life
Blessed is the one who endures testing, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
The Source of Temptation
Let no one say when tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Quick to Hear
Know this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which has the power to save your souls.
Doers of the Word
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 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; for he looks at himself and goes away, and at once forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and continues in it—being not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts—he will be blessed in his doing.
True Religion
If anyone thinks himself religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is empty. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.