| 1:1 | Greeting to the Twelve TribesFaith Works in Trial , a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:Greetings.Profiting from Trials |
| 1:2 | My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, |
| 1:3 | knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. |
| 1:4 | But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. |
| 1:5 | If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. |
| 1:6 | But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. |
| 1:7 | For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; |
| 1:8 | he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.The Perspective of Rich and Poor |
| 1:9 | Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, |
| 1:10 | but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. |
| 1:11 | For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.Loving God Under Trials |
| 1:12 | Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. |
| 1:13 | Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. |
| 1:14 | But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. |
| 1:15 | Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. |
| 1:16 | Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. |
| 1:17 | Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. |
| 1:18 | Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.Qualities Needed in Trials |
| 1:19 | So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; |
| 1:20 | for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.Doers--Not Hearers Only |
| 1:21 | Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. |
| 1:22 | But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. |
| 1:23 | For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; |
| 1:24 | for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. |
| 1:25 | But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. |
| 1:26 | If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. |
| 1:27 | Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. |