| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings! | 1From: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. To: The twelve tribes in the Dispersion. Greetings. |
| 2My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, | 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials, |
| 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. | 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. |
| 4And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. | 4But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. |
| 5But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. | 5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him. |
| 6But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. | 6But he must ask in faith, without any doubts, for the one who has doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. |
| 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, | 7Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. |
| 8since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways. | 8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he undertakes. |
| 9Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position. | 9A brother of humble means should rejoice in his having been exalted, |
| 10But the rich person's pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. | 10and a rich person in his having been humbled, because he will fade away like a wild flower. |
| 11For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away. | 11For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass. The flower in it drops off, and its beauty is gone. That is how the rich person will fade away in his pursuits. |
| 12Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. | 12How blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor's crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him. |
| 13Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. | 13When someone is tempted, he should not say, "I am being tempted by God," because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. |
| 14But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. | 14Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. |
| 15Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. | 15When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death. |
| 16Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. | 16Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. |
| 17All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. | 17Every generous act of giving and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father who made the heavenly lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow. |
| 18By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. | 18In accordance with his will he made us his children by the word of truth, so that we might become the most important of his creatures. |
| 19Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. | 19You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. |
| 20For human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. | 20For human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. |
| 21So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. | 21Therefore, rid yourselves of everything impure and every expression of wickedness, and with a gentle spirit welcome the word planted in you that can save your souls. |
| 22But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. | 22Keep on being obedient to the word, and not merely being hearers who deceive themselves. |
| 23For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. | 23For if anyone hears the word but is not obedient to it, he is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror |
| 24For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. | 24and studies himself carefully, and then goes off and immediately forgets what he looks like. |
| 25But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out--he will be blessed in what he does. | 25But the one who looks at the perfect law of freedom and remains committed to it—thereby demonstrating that he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of what that law requires—will be blessed in what he does. |
| 26If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. | 26If anyone thinks that he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but instead deceives himself, his religion is worthless. |
| 27Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world. | 27A religion that is pure and stainless according to God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows who are suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. |
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