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a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
2 My brothers, consider it nothing but joy whenever you face trials of any kind, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 But let perseverance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticising, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith and without doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 for he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 The brother in humble circumstances should take pride in his exalted position, 10 but the one who is rich should take pride in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a flower of the field. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty fades. In the same way, the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who endures trials, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
13 No one who is undergoing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when sin is full-grown, it gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dearly beloved brothers. 17 Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. 18 Of His own will He gave us a new birth through the word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all His creatures.
19 My dearly loved brothers, you must understand this: Everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for man’s anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, rid yourselves of all moral filth and the prevalent evil, and receive humbling the word planted in you, which is able to save you.
22 But be doers of the word and not merely hearers, deceiving yourselves. 23 Anyone who is a hearer of the word and not a doer is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror; 24 and after looking at himself, he goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But the person who looks intently into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts—he will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone considers himself religious and does not bridle his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.