{Or, Jacob}James, a {Greek: bondservant.}servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, {Greek: wisheth joy.}greeting.
Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold {Or, trials}temptations;
knowing that the proving of your faith worketh {Or, stedfastness}patience.
And let {Or, stedfastness}patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
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.
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.
For let not that man think {Or, that a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways, shall receive anything of the Lord}that he shall receive anything of the Lord;
a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.
But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:
and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall 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 perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
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.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted {Greek: from.}of God; for God {Or, is untried in evil}cannot be tempted with {Greek: evil things.}evil, and he himself tempteth no man:
but each man is {Or, tempted by his own lust, being drawn away by it, and enticed.}tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.
Every good {Or, giving}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.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
{Or, Know ye}Ye know this, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of {Or, malice}wickedness, receive with meekness the {Or, inborn}implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding {Greek: the face of his birth.}his natural face in a mirror:
for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he 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 in his doing.
If any man {Or, seemeth to be}thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain.
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.
Querverweise zu Jakobus 1,2 Jak 1,2
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.
and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold {Or, temptations}trials,
that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and {Greek: glorified.}full of glory:
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;
Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; {Some ancient authorities read and may have.}and ye shall have {Greek: a tribulation of ten days.}tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.
They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.
and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
Who shall separate us from the love {Some ancient authorities read of God.}of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Even as it is written, {Psalms 44:22}For thy sake we are killed all the day long;We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may {Or, cover me Greek: spread a tabernacle over me. See Revelation 7:15.}rest upon me.
Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf:
Yea, and if I am {Greek: poured out as a drink-offering.}offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church;
For ye both had compassion on them that were in bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that {Many ancient authorities read ye have your own selves for a better possession &c. Compare Luke 9:25; 21:19.}ye have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.
but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy.
If ye are reproached {Greek: in.}for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.
For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men's matters:
but if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name.