Greeting
1 aJames, a servant1 of God and bof the Lord Jesus Christ,
To cthe twelve tribes in dthe Dispersion:
Greetings.
Testing of Your Faith
2 eCount it all joy, my brothers,2 when you meet trials fof various kinds, 3 for you know that gthe testing of your faith hproduces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be iperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 jIf any of you lacks wisdom, klet him ask God, lwho gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But mlet him ask in faith, nwith no doubting, for the one who doubts is like oa wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 phe is a double-minded man, qunstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and rthe rich in his humiliation, because slike a flower of the grass3 he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and twithers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 uBlessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive vthe crown of life, wwhich God has 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 with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire xwhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ysin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 zEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from athe Father of lights, bwith whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.4 18 cOf his own will he dbrought us forth by the word of truth, ethat we should be a kind of ffirstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 gKnow this, my beloved brothers: let every person hbe quick to hear, islow to speak, jslow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore kput away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with lmeekness the implanted word, mwhich is able to save your souls.
22 But be ndoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, phe will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious qand does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s rreligion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: sto visit torphans and widows in their affliction, and uto keep oneself vunstained from the world.
Great Is the Lord
Of David.
1 Contend, O Lord, with those who ycontend with me;
zfight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of ashield and buckler
and rise for my help!
3 Draw the spear and javelin1
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation!”
4 bLet them be cput to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be dturned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!
5 Let them be like echaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6 Let their way be dark and fslippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7 For gwithout cause hthey hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ia pit for my life.2
8 Let jdestruction come upon him kwhen he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
lexulting in his salvation.
10 All my mbones shall say,
“O Lord, nwho is like you,
delivering the poor
from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
11 oMalicious3 witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
12 pThey repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft.4
13 But I, qwhen they were sick—
I rwore sackcloth;
I safflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed twith head bowed5 on my chest.
14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I ubowed down in mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
vwretches whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
16 like profane mockers at a feast,6
they wgnash at me with their teeth.
17 How long, O Lord, will you xlook on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
ymy precious life from the lions!
18 I will thank you in zthe great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 aLet not those rejoice over me
who are bwrongfully my foes,
and let not those cwink the eye
20 For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.
21 They fopen wide their mouths against me;
they say, g“Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!”
22 hYou have seen, O Lord; ibe not silent!
O Lord, jbe not far from me!
23 Awake and krouse yourself for lmy vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 mVindicate me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and nlet them not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts,
o“Aha, our heart’s desire!”
Let them not say, p“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be qput to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be rclothed with shame and dishonor
who smagnify themselves against me!
27 Let those who delight in my righteousness
shout for joy and be glad
tand say evermore,
u“Great is the Lord,
who vdelights in the welfare of his servant!”
28 Then my wtongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.
