2

JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, 2 greeting. Count ft all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into mani3 fold temptations; knowing that the proof of your faith 4 worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

5

But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall 6 be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven 7 by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of 8 the Lord; a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 But let the brother of low degree glory in his high es10 tate: and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall 11 pass away. For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it

1 Gr.bond- | perisheth: so also shall the servant. rich man fade away in his goings.

9 Or, giving

10 Or, Know ye

Blessed is the man that en- 12 dureth temptation: for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him. Let no 13 man say when he is tempted, I am tempted 5 of God: for God cannot be tempted with 7 evil, and he himself tempteth no man: but each man is 14 tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when 15 it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death. Be not deceived, my beloved 16 brethren. Every good 9 gift 17 and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. Of his own will he brought us 18 forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

10 Ye know this, my beloved 19 brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath 20

Or malice

2 Or, inborn

3 Gr. the

his birth.

4 Or, seemeth to be

ye, in

putting away all filthiness and overflowing of 1 wickedness, receive with meekness the 2implanted word, which is able 22 to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your face of 23 own selves. For if any one is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural 24 face in a mirror: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he 25 was. But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed 26 in his doing. If any man 6 Or, 4 thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is 7 Or, do 27 vain. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in theirs Or, affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

5 Or, do accepting hold the faith... glory

persons,

assembly

ye not make distinctions

among your

selves

9 Gr. which was called upon you.

world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? But ye have dis- 6 honoured the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgement-seats? Do not they 7 blaspheme the honourable name by the which ye are called? Howbeit if ye fulfil 8 the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well but if ye have re- 9 spect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoso- 10 ever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. For he that said, Do not com- 11 mit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak 12 ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. For judgement is without 13 mercy to him that hath shewed no mercy: mercy glorietha against judgement.

What doth it profit, my bre- 14 thren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him? If a 15 brother or sister be naked, and in lack of daily food, and 16 one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and

some one

will say

11 Some

ancient authori

tles read

3 and ye have regard to him that weareth the fine clothing, and say, Sit thou here in a good place; and ye say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or sit under my foot4 stool; are ye not divided 8 in your own mind, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Hearken, my beloved bre-12 Gr. thren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the

there is one God.

demons.

not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it have not 17 works, is dead in itself. 10 Yea, 18 a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will shew thee my faith. Thou be- 19 lievest that 11 God is one; thou doest well: the 12 devils also believe, and shudder. But wilt 20

1 Or, saith in vain,

2 Or, The
spirit

which he
made to
dwell in
us he
yearneth
for even
unto jea-
lous envy.
Or, That
spirit
which he
made to
dwell in
us yearn-
eth for us

the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an 5 enemy of God. Or think ye that the scripture 1 speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in 6 us long unto envying? But he giveth 4 more grace. Wherefore the scripture saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth 7 grace to the humble. Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will 8 flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your 9 hearts, ye doubleminded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your 10 joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you. 11 Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer 12 of the law, but a judge. One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save 5 Gr. and to destroy: but who art Instead thou that judgest thy neigh-saying.

13

bour?

even unio jealous envy.

3 Some

ancient authorities read dwelleth in us.

4 Gr. a greater grace.

of your

7 Gr.

Go to now, ye that say, Today or to-morrow we will go 6 Or, unlo into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get 14 gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanish- 8 Or, he 15 eth away. 5 For that ye ought

presence,

to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or 9 Or, en16 that. But now ye glory in

your vauntings: all such glory17 ing is evil. To him therefore

durance

that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Go to now, ye rich, weep and 5howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your 2 riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are 3 rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days. Be- 4 hold, the hire of the labourers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived 5 delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. Ye have con- 6 demned, ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you.

Be patient therefore, bre- 7 thren, until the 7 coming of tho Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain. Be 8 ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the 7 coming of the Lord is at hand. Murmur not, 9 brethren, one against another, that ye be not judged: behold, the judge standeth before the doors. Take, brethren, for an 10 example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call them blessed 11 which endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.

But above all things, my 12 brethren, swear not, neither by the heaven, nor by the

13

earth, nor by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; that ye fall not under judgement.

Is any among you suffering? let him pray. Is any cheerful? 14 let him sing praise. Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, 2 anointing him with oil in the 15 name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be for16 given him. Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye

1 Or, let

yours be the yea, yea, and the nay, nay Compare Matt. v. 37.

2 Or,

having
anointed

3 Or,
nature

4 Gr. with
prayer.

5 Some
ancient
authori-
ties read
know ye.

may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. Eli- 17 jah was a man of like 3 passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again; and the 18 heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

My brethren, if any among 19 you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 5 let him 20 know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.

1 PETER, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 2 Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God

3

while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold 1temptations, that the proof of your 7 faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, might be

the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

2 Gr. glorified.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in 3 Gr. unto. 5 heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the 6 last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little

and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ: whom not 8 having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and 2 full of glory: receiving 9 the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Con- 10 cerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what 11 time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the