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| Codex Sinaiticus James |
1:2 Proceed joyously, my fellow believers, whenever you face various challenges,
1:3 for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
1:4 Let perseverance finish its job so that you may become perfected and complete, lacking nothing.
1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, ask God – who gives generously to all without blame – and it will be given to you.
1:6 But you must ask with faith, without any doubt; for those who doubt are like waves of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
1:7 For such a person should not expect to receive anything from the LORD –
1:8 Being uncertain and unstable in everything they do.
1:9 Yet the companion of humility will rejoice in his position,
1:10 and the materialist will glory in humiliation as they pass away like the grass flower.
1:11 For the sun rises with a scorching heat and withers the grass, and its flower falls and its beauty is destroyed. Like this, the materialist will fade away even in the midst of their pursuits.
1:12 Blessed is one who perseveres through challenges, for having withstood the tests, that person will receive the wreath of life promised to those who love Him.
1:13 Let no one say, when tempted, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by wickedness, nor does he tempt anyone;
1:14 Rather, each person is tempted when they are carried away and enticed by their own wicked desires.
1:15 Then, once desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
1:16 Don't be deceived, my beloved fellow believers.
1:17 Every good thing and every perfect gift is from above – coming down from the Creator of light, of whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
1:18 In His pleasure He nurtured us through the Teachings of Truth, so that we might be like first offerings among His creation.
1:19 My beloved fellow believers, take heed that everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger,
1:20 for human anger doesn’t achieve the devotion that pleases God.
1:21 Therefore, put aside all defilement and the wickedness that remains and humbly accept the Teachings given to you, which can save your spirit-person.
1:22 And commit to the practice of the Teachings and not merely listeners who delude themselves.
1:23 For anyone who listens to the Teachings and does not practice them is like one who looks at their face in a mirror –
1:24 and after looking at themselves, leaves and immediately forgets what they look like.
1:25 But one who seeks the perfect instruction that renders liberation and abides by it – not becoming a forgetful listener but a practical doer – will be blessed by what they do.
1:26 Those who think themselves religious yet do not bridle the tongue deceive their own heart: Their religion is worthless.
1:27 Pure and faultless religion that pleases God our Creator means looking after those who in distress have strayed and are bereft of protection – while keeping ourselves from being polluted by the material world.
