Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. | Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. |
Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. | For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. |
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If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. | If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. |
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. | But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. |
Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. | Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. |
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. | God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. |
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. | And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. |
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. | He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. |
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. | Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. |
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. | So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. |
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. | But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. |
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. | But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. |
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. | If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. |
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. | Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. |
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. | So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. |
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! | You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. |
For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. | Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. |
Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. | And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! |
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. | If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. |
For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. | For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. |
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. | But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. |
Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. | And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. |
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. | You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. |
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. | You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. |
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. | So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. |