MODERN LITERAL VERSION

1:1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes, those who are in the dispersion. Hail to you*!

1:2 My brethren, deem it with all joy, whenever you* fall into various temptations,
1:3 knowing that the testing of your* faith is working endurance.
1:4 But let endurance have its perfect work, that* you* may be perfect and whole, lacking* in nothing.

1:5 But if anyone of you* lacks* wisdom, let him ask from God, who gives to all liberally and does not reproach any, and it will be given to him.
1:6 But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing. For* he who is doubting resembles a wave of the sea being blown by the wind and tossed around.
1:7 For* do not let that man assume that he will receive anything from the Lord–
1:8 an indecisive man is restless in all his ways.

1:9 Now let the humble brother boast in his elevation,
1:10 but the rich brother in his humbleness, because like the flower of the grass, he will pass away.
1:11 For* the sun has risen with the burning heat and dried up the grass and its flower falls and the beauty of its face perished. So shall the rich man also fade away in his pursuits.

1:12 The man who is enduring temptation is fortunate, because having become approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love* him.
1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for* God is not tempted by evils and he himself tempts no one.
1:14 But each person is tempted, when he is pulled away and enticed by his own lust.
1:15 Thereafter when this lust has conceived, it bears sin and sin when it has matured, gives-birth to death.
1:16 Do not be misled, my beloved brethren!

1:17 Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor a shadow of turning.
1:18 Having willed it, he gave-birth to us by the word of truth, *that* we might be a kind of first-fruit of his created things.

1:19 So-then my beloved brethren, let every man be quick in order to hear, slow in order to speak, and slow to wrath.
1:20 For* the wrath of man is not working the righteousness of God.
1:21 Hence having laid away from yourselves all filthiness and the abundance of malice, accept the implanted word with meekness, which is able to save your* souls.

1:22 But become doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
1:23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he resembles a man considering his face (which was his from birth) in a mirror.
1:24 For* he has considered himself and has gone away and immediately forgot what sort of man he was.
1:25 But he who has peered into the perfect law, the law of freedom and remains in it, this one, having not become a forgetful hearer but a doer who works, this one will be fortunate {F} in his practices.

1:26 If anyone among you* thinks himself to be religious, though he does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this one's religion is futile.
1:27 A clean and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to {F} visit {F} the orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
{Footnotes: James 1:25- Or: actions, doings. James 1:27a- Many try to use the other meaning of this Greek word: oversee; James 1:27b Or: the fatherless. See the History Section in the Appendix. Please read the Preface. * is our universal footnoting for words contained in the Appendix. These words are NOT the same Greek word as the non-asterisk form; i.e. *for is different from for* is different from for.}