{N}ENDURE TRIALS PATIENTLY{/}

{1}1{/}

[=]_{R}_{I}1_{/}James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
sends greetings to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.
[\u0095]_{I}2_{/}Consider yourselves fortunate, my brothers and sisters, 
when you meet with every kind of trial, {I}3_{/}for you know that the 
testing of your faith makes you steadfast. [=]_{I}4_{/}Let your 
steadfastness become perfect with deeds, that you yourselves may 
be perfect and blameless, without any defect.
{R}_{I}5_{/}If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God who gives to all 
easily and unconditionally. [=]_{R}_{I}6_{/}But ask with faith, not 
doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave driven and tossed 
on the sea by the wind. {I}7_{/}Such a person should not expect 
anything from the Lord, since the doubter has two minds {I}8_{/}and 
his conduct will always be insecure.
[=]_{I}9_{/}Let the believer who is poor boast in been uplifted, 
{I}10_{/}and let the rich one boast in being humbled, because he will 
pass away like the flower of the field. [=]_{I}11_{/}The sun rises and 
its heat dries the grass; the flower withers and its beauty 
vanishes. So, too, will the rich person fade away even in the 
midst of his pursuits.
[=]_{I}12_{/}Happy are those who patiently endure trials, because 
afterwards they will receive the crown of life which the Lord 
promised to those who love him. {R}_{I}13_{/}No one, when tempted, should 
say, "This temptation comes from God." God is never tempted and he 
can never tempt anyone. [=]_{I}14_{/}Instead, each of us is lured and 
enticed by our own evil desire. [=]_{R}_{I}15_{/}Once this desire has 
conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, gives 
birth to death. 
[\u0095]_{I}16_{/}Do not be deceived, my beloved. {I}17_{/}Every good and 
perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Light, in whom 
there is no change or shadow of a change. [=]_{I}18_{/}By his own will 
he gave us life through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind 
of offering to him among his creatures.
[=]_{I}19_{/}My beloved, be quick to hear but slow to speak and slow 
to anger, {R}_{I}20_{/}for human anger does not fulfill the justice of 
God. {I}21_{/}So get rid of any filth and reject the prevailing evil, 
and welcome the Word which has been planted in you and has the 
power to save you.
[=]_{I}22_{/}Be doers of the Word and not just hearers, lest you 
deceive yourselves. {I}23_{/}The hearer who does not become a doer is 
like that one who looked himself at the mirror. {I}24_{/}He looked and 
then promptly forgot what he was like. [=]_{R}_{I}25_{/}But those who fix 
their gaze on the perfect law of freedom and hold onto it, not 
listening and then forgetting, but acting on it, will find 
blessing on their deeds.
{I}26_{/}Those who think they are religious but do not restrain their 
tongue, deceive themselves and their religion is in vain. 
[=]_{R}_{I}27_{/}In the sight of God, our Father, pure and blameless 
religion lies in helping the orphans and widows in their need and 
keeping oneself from the world's corruption.

{N}TREAT THE RICH AND THE POOR EQUALLY{/}

{1}2{/}

[\u0095]_{R}_{I}1_{/}My brothers and sisters,  if you truly believe in our 
glorified Lord, Jesus Christ, you will not discriminate between 
persons. {R}_{I}2_{/}Suppose a person enters the synagogue where you are 
assembled, dressed magnificently and wearing a gold ring; at the 
same time, a poor person enters dressed in rags. {I}3_{/}If you focus 
your attention on the well-dressed and say, "Come and sit in the 
best seat," while to the poor one you say, "Stay standing or else 
sit down at my feet," {I}4_{/}have you not, in fact, made a 
distinction between the two? Have you not judged, using a double 
standard?
[=]_{R}_{I}5_{/}Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters, did God not 
choose the poor of this world to receive the riches of faith and 
to inherit the kingdom which he has promised to those who love 
him? [=]_{I}6_{/}Yet you despise them! Is it not the rich who are 
against you and drag you to court? {I}7_{/}Do they not insult the holy 
name of Christ by which you are called?
[=]_{R}_{I}8_{/}If you keep the Law of the Kingdom, according to 
Scripture: Love your neighbor as yourself, you do well; 
[=]_{R}_{I}9_{/}but if you make distinctions between persons, you break 
the law and are condemned by the same law. {R}_{I}10_{/}For whoever keeps 
the whole law but fails in one aspect, is guilty of breaking it 
all. {R}_{I}11_{/}For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do 
not kill. If, then, you do not commit adultery but you do commit 
murder, you have broken the Law. {R}_{I}12_{/}Therefore, speak and behave 
like people who are going to be judged by the law of freedom. 
[=]_{I}13_{/}There will be justice without mercy for those who have 
not shown mercy, whereas mercy has nothing to fear of judgment.

{N}FAITH IS SHOWN IN ACTION{/}

[\u0095]_[=]_{I}14_{/}What good is it, my brothers and sisters, to profess 
faith without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you. 
{I}15_{/}If a brother or sister is in need of clothes or food {I}16_{/}and 
one of you says, "May things go well for you; be warm and 
satisfied," without attending to their material needs, what good 
is that? {R}_{I}17_{/}So it is for faith without deeds: it is totally 
dead.
{I}18_{/}Say to whoever challenges you, "You have faith and I have 
good deeds; show me your faith apart from actions and I, for my 
part, will show you my faith in the way I act." [=]_{R}_{I}19_{/}Do you 
believe there is one God? Well enough, but do not forget that the 
demons also believe and tremble with fear!
{I}20_{/}You foolish one, do you have to be convinced that faith 
without deeds is useless? {R}_{I}21_{/}Think of our father Abraham. Was 
he not justified by the act of offering his son Isaac on the 
altar? {I}22_{/}So you see, his faith was active along with his deeds 
and became perfect by what he did. [=]_{I}23{/} The word of Scripture 
was thus fulfilled, Abraham believed in God so he was considered a 
righteous person and he was called the friend of God.
[=]_{I}24_{/}So you see, a person is acknowledged by works and not by 
faith alone. [=]_{I}25_{/}Likewise, we read of Rahab, the prostitute, 
that she was acknowledged and saved because she welcomed the spies 
and showed them another way to leave.
[=]_{R}_{I}26_{/}So, just as the body is dead without its spirit, so 
faith without deeds is also dead.

{N}SINS OF THE TONGUE{/}

{1}3{/}

{I}1_{/}My brothers and sisters,  don't all be teachers! You know 
that, as teachers, we will be judged most strictly; [=]_{I}2_{/}in 
fact, we make mistakes, like everybody else. A person who commits 
no offense in speech is perfect and capable of ruling the whole 
self. {I}3_{/}We put a bit into the horse's mouth to master it and, 
with this, we control its whole body. {I}4_{/}The same is true of 
ships: however big they are and driven by strong winds, they are 
guided by a tiny rudder. {I}5_{/}In the same way, the tongue is a tiny 
part of the body but it is capable of great things.
A small flame is enough to set a huge forest on fire. {I}6_{/}The 
tongue is a similar flame; it is in itself a whole world of evil. 
It infects the whole being and sets fire to our world with the 
very fire of hell. {R}_{I}7_{/}Wild animals, birds, reptiles and sea 
creatures of every kind are and have been ruled by the human 
species. {I}8_{/}Nobody, however, can control the tongue; it is an 
untiring whip, full of deadly poison. {R}_{I}9_{/}We use it to bless God, 
our Father, and also to curse those made in God's likeness. 
[=]_{I}10_{/}From the same mouth come both blessing and curse.
Brothers and sisters, this should not be the case. {R}_{I}11_{/}Can both 
fresh and salt water gush from the same source? [=]_{R}_{I}12_{/}Can a 
fig tree produce olives or a grapevine give figs? Neither is the 
sea able to give fresh water.

{N}TRUE WISDOM{/}

[\u0095]_{I}13_{/}If you consider yourself wise and learned, show it by 
your good life and let your actions, in all humility, be an 
example for others. {I}14_{/}But if your heart is full of bitter 
jealousy and ambition, do not try to show off; that would be 
covering up the truth; {I}15_{/}this kind of wisdom does not come from 
above but from the world and it is earthly and devilish. 
{I}16_{/}Wherever there is jealousy and ambition, you will also find 
discord and all that is evil. {I}17_{/}Instead, the wisdom which comes 
from above is pure and peace-loving. Persons with this wisdom show 
understanding and listen to advice; they are full of compassion 
and good works; they are impartial and sincere. 
[=]_{I}18_{/}Peacemakers who sow peace reap a harvest of justice.

{N}WICKED AMBITIONS{/}

{1}4{/}

[\u0095]_{I}1_{/}What causes these fights and quarrels among you? Is it not 
your inner longings which make war within your own selves? 
[=]_{I}2_{/}When you long for something you cannot have, you kill for 
it and when you do not get what you desire, you squabble and 
fight. The fact is, you do not have what you want because you do 
not pray for it. {I}3_{/}You pray for something and you do not get it 
because you pray with the wrong motive of indulging your 
pleasures. [=]_{R}_{I}4_{/}You adulterers! Don't you know that making 
friends with the world makes you enemies of God? Therefore, 
whoever chooses to be the world's friend becomes God's enemy.
[=]_{R}_{I}5_{/}Surely, Scripture is not wrong when it says that our 
spirit tends towards excess. [=]_{R}_{I}6_{/}But God has something better 
to give, and Scripture also says, God opposes the proud but he 
gives his favor to the humble. [=]_{R}_{I}7_{/}Give in, then, to God; 
resist the devil and he will flee from you. {R}_{I}8_{/}Draw close to God 
and he will come close to you. Clean your hands, you sinners, and 
purify your hearts, you doubters. {I}9_{/}Recognize your distress, be 
miserable and weep. Turn your laughter into tears and your joy 
into sadness. [=]_{I}10_{/}Humble yourselves before the Lord and he 
will raise you up.
[=]_{R}_{I}11_{/}Brothers and sisters, do not criticize one another. 
Anyone who speaks against or condemns another, speaks against the 
Law and condemns the Law. If, however, you condemn the Law, you 
are no longer an observer of the Law but a judge of it. 
[=]_{I}12_{/}There is only one lawgiver and one judge: he who has the 
power to save or condemn. So you, who are you to judge your 
neighbor?
[=]_{I}13_{/}Listen now, you who speak like this, "Today or tomorrow 
we will go off to this city and spend a year there; we will do 
business and make money." {I}14_{/}You have no idea what tomorrow will 
bring. What is your life? No more than a mist which appears for a 
moment and then disappears. {R}_{I}15_{/}Instead of this, you should say, 
"God willing, we will live and do this or that."{I}16_{/}But no! You 
boast of your plans: this brazen pride is wicked. {I}17_{/}Anyone who 
knows what is good and does not do it, sins.

{N}THE MISFORTUNES OF THE RICH{/}

{1}5{/}

[\u0095]_[=]_{I}1_{/}So, now for what concerns the rich! Cry and weep for 
the misfortunes which are coming upon you. {I}2_{/}Your riches are 
rotting and your clothes eaten up by the moths. [=]_{I}3_{/}Your 
silver and gold have rusted and their rust grows into a witness 
against you. It will consume your flesh like fire, for having 
piled up riches{I}_{/}in these the last days.
[=]_{I}4_{/}You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now 
their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers' complaints have 
reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. [=]_{I}5_{/}You lived in luxury 
and pleasure in this world and felt happy while others were 
murdered. [=]_{I}6_{/}You have easily condemned and killed the 
innocent since they offered no resistance.

{N}LOOK FORWARD TO THE LORD'S COMING{/}

[=]_{I}7_{/}Be patient then, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. 
See how the sower waits for the precious fruits of the earth, 
looking forward patiently to the autumn and spring rains. 
[=]_{I}8_{/}You also be patient and do not lose heart, because the 
Lord's coming is near.
[=]_{I}9_{/}Beloved, do not fight among yourselves and you will not be 
judged. See, the judge is already at the door. [=]_{R}_{I}10_{/}Take for 
yourselves, as an example of patience, the suffering of the 
prophets who spoke in the Lord's name. [=]_{I}11_{/}See how those who 
were patient are called blessed. You have heard of the patience of 
Job and know how the Lord dealt with him in the end. For the Lord 
is merciful and shows compassion.
[=]_{I}12_{/}Above all, my beloved, do not swear either by heaven or 
by earth, or make a habit of swearing. Let your yes be yes and 
your no be no, lest you become liable for judgment.

{N}THE SICK{/}

[\u0095]_[=]_{R}_{I}13_{/}Are any among you discouraged? They should pray. Are 
any of you happy? They should sing songs to God. {I}14_{/}If anyone is 
sick, let him call on the elders of the Church. They shall pray 
for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. {I}15_{/}The 
prayer said in faith will save the sick person; the Lord will 
raise him up and if he has committed any sins, he will be 
forgiven.
[\u0095]_{R}_{I}16_{/}There will be healing if you confess your sins to one 
another and pray for each other. The prayer of the upright man has 
great power, provided he perseveres. [=]_{R}_{I}17_{/}Elijah was a human 
being like ourselves and when he prayed earnestly for it not to 
rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. {I}18_{/}Then he prayed 
again: the sky yielded rain and the earth produced its fruit.
[=]_{I}19_{/}Brothers, if any one of you strays far away from the 
truth and another person brings him back to it, [=]_{R}_{I}20_{/}be sure 
of this: he who brings back a sinner from the wrong way will save 
his soul from death and win forgiveness for many sins.

