1 T his letter is from James. I am a servant owned by God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I greet the twelve family groups of the Jewish nation living in many parts of the world. Take Hope When Tests Come

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.

2 M y Christian brothers, you should be happy when you have all kinds of tests.

Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;

3 Y ou know these prove your faith. It helps you not to give up.

Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.

4 L earn well how to wait so you will be strong and complete and in need of nothing.

And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

5 I f you do not have wisdom, ask God for it. He is always ready to give it to you and will never say you are wrong for asking.

But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 Y ou must have faith as you ask Him. You must not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave which is pushed around by the sea.

But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 S uch a man will get nothing from the Lord.

For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;

8 T he man who has two ways of thinking changes in everything he does.

a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 A Christian brother who has few riches of this world should be happy for what he has. He is great in the eyes of God.

But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:

10 B ut a rich man should be happy even if he loses everything. He is like a flower that will die.

and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11 T he sun comes up with burning heat. The grass dries up and the flower falls off. It is no longer beautiful. The rich man will die also and all his riches will be gone.

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 perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.

12 T he man who does not give up when tests come is happy. After the test is over, he will receive the crown of life. God has promised this to those who love Him. God Does Not Tempt Us

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.

13 W hen you are tempted to do wrong, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God cannot be tempted. He will never tempt anyone.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:

14 A man is tempted to do wrong when he lets himself be led by what his bad thoughts tell him to do.

but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 W hen he does what his bad thoughts tell him to do, he sins. When sin completes its work, it brings death.

Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.

16 M y Christian brothers, do not be fooled about this.

Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.

17 W hatever is good and perfect comes to us from God. He is the One Who made all light. He does not change. No shadow is made by His turning.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.

18 H e gave us our new lives through the truth of His Word only because He wanted to. We are the first children in His family.

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

19 M y Christian brothers, you know everyone should listen much and speak little. He should be slow to become angry.

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

20 A man’s anger does not allow him to be right with God.

for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21 P ut out of your life all that is unclean and wrong. Receive with a gentle spirit the Word that was taught. It has the power to save your souls from the punishment of sin.

Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 O bey the Word of God. If you hear only and do not act, you are only fooling yourself.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.

23 A nyone who hears the Word of God and does not obey is like a man looking at his face in a mirror.

For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:

24 A fter he sees himself and goes away, he forgets what he looks like.

for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25 B ut the one who keeps looking into God’s perfect Law and does not forget it will do what it says and be happy as he does it. God’s Word makes men free.

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 in his doing.

26 I f a person thinks he is religious, but does not keep his tongue from speaking bad things, he is fooling himself. His religion is worth nothing.

If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain.

27 R eligion that is pure and good before God the Father is to help children who have no parents and to care for women whose husbands have died who have troubles. Pure religion is also to keep yourself clean from the sinful things of the world.

Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.