American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
{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.
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
But other of the apostles saw I none, {Or, but only}save {Or, Jacob}James the Lord's brother.
And certain men came down from Judæa and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and questioning with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
They therefore, being brought on their way by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed all things that God had done with them.
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.
And the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of this matter.
And when there had been much questioning, Peter rose up, and said unto them,Brethren, ye know that {Greek: from early days.}a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the {Or, good tidings}gospel, and believe.
And God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us;
and he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
Now therefore why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as they.
And all the multitude kept silence; and they hearkened unto Barnabas and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through them.
And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying,Brethren, hearken unto me:
Symeon hath rehearsed how first God visited the {See marginal note on chapter 5:42.}Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
{Amos 9:11, 12.}After these things I will return,And I will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen;And I will build again the ruins thereof,And I will set it up:
That the residue of men may seek after the Lord,And all the {See marginal note on chapter 5:42.}Gentiles, upon whom my name is called,
Saith the Lord, {Or, who doeth these things which were known & c.}who maketh these things known from of old.
Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God;
but that we {Or, enjoin them}write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood.
For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath.
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
and they wrote thus by them, {Or, The apostles and the elder brethren}The apostles and the elders, brethren, unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting:
Forasmuch as we have heard that certain {Some ancient authorities omit who went out.}who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment;
it seemed good unto us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same things by word of mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well.
So they, when they were dismissed, came down to Antioch; and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle.
And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the {Or, exhortation}consolation.
And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, {Or, comforted}exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.
And after they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace from the brethren unto those that had sent them forth. {Some ancient authorities insert with variations, verse 34 But it seemed good unto Silas to abide there.}
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But Paul and Barnabas tarried in Antioch, teaching and {See marginal note on chapter 5:42.}preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
And after some days Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us return now and visit the brethren in every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they fare.
And Barnabas was minded to take with them John also, who was called Mark.
But Paul thought not good to take with them him who withdrew from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.
And there arose a sharp contention, so that they parted asunder one from the other, and Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away unto Cyprus;
but Paul choose Silas, and went forth, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.
that no man be moved by these afflictions; for yourselves know that hereunto we are appointed.
All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.
Or are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who know {Or, law}the law), that the law hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth?
For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the {Greek: passions of sins.}sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through {Or, law}the law: for I had not known {Or, lust}coveting, except the law had said, {Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:21}Thou shalt not {Or, lust}covet:
but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of {Or, lust}coveting: for apart from {Or, law}the law sin is dead.
And I was alive apart from {Or, law}the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;
and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death:
for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me.
So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
Did then that which is good become death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; — that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For that which I {Greek: work.}do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do.
But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good.
So now it is no more I that {Greek: work.}do it, but sin which dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to {Greek: work.}do that which is good is not.
For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise.
But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that {Greek: work.}do it, but sin which dwelleth in me.
I find then {Or, in regard of the law Compare verse 12, 14.}the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present.
For I delight {Greek: with.}in the law of God after the inward man:
but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity {Greek: in. Many ancient authorities read to.}under the law of sin which is in my members.
Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of {Or, this body of death}the body of this death?
{Many ancient authorities read But thanks be to God. Compare chapter 6:17.}I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I of myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
For indeed we have had {Or, a gospel}good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because {Many ancient authorities read they were.}it was not united by faith with them that heard.