| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. | 1From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings! |
| 2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; | 2My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, |
| 3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. | 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. |
| 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. | 4And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. |
| 5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. | 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. |
| 6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. | 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. |
| 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. | 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, |
| 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. | 8since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways. |
| 9Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: | 9Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position. |
| 10But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. | 10But the rich person's pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. |
| 11For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it 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 ways. | 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. |
| 12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. | 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. |
| 13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: | 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. |
| 14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. | 14But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. |
| 15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. | 15Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. |
| 16Do not err, my beloved brethren. | 16Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. |
| 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. | 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. |
| 18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. | 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. |
| 19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: | 19Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. |
| 20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. | 20For human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. |
| 21Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. | 21So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. |
| 22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. | 22But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. |
| 23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: | 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. |
| 24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. | 24For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. |
| 25But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. | 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. |
| 26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. | 26If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. |
| 27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. | 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. |
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