1 Jakoobus, Jumala ja Issanda Jeesuse Kristuse sulane, saadab tervisi hajuvil asuvaile kaheteistkümnele suguharule.
2 Pidage lausa rõõmuks, mu vennad, kui te satute mitmesugustesse kiusatustesse,
3 ja teadke, et teie usu katsumine saadab kannatlikkust!
4 Ent kannatlikkus omagu täiuslikku tegu, et te oleksite täiuslikud ja laitmatud ega oleks teil mingit puudust.
5 Aga kui kellelgi teist on puudu tarkusest, see palugu Jumalalt, Kes kõigile annab suisa ega tee etteheiteid, ja siis antakse temale.
6 Ent ta palugu usus, ilma kahtlemata; sest kes kahtleb, sarnaneks merelainele, mida tuul tõstab ning sinna ja tänna peksab.
7 Niisugune inimene ärgu ometi arvaku, et ta midagi saab Issandalt;
8 ta on kaksipidise meelega mees, ebakindel kõigil oma teedel.
9 Ent madal vend kiidelgu oma suurusest,
10 aga rikas oma madalusest, sest ta kaob nagu rohu õieke.
11 Sest päike tõusis palavaga ja kuivatas rohu ära, ja selle õieke varises maha ning tema näo ilu hävis. Nõnda närtsib ka rikas oma retkedel!
12 Õnnis see mees, kes ära kannatab kiusatuse; sest kui ta on läbi katsutud, saab ta elukrooni, mille Issand on tõotanud neile, kes Teda armastavad.
13 Ärgu ükski kiusatuses olles öelgu: „Mind kiusab Jumal!" Sest Jumalat ei kiusata kurjaga ja Tema Ise ei kiusa kedagi.
14 Aga igaüht kiusatakse, kui tema enese himu teda veab ning ahvatleb;
15 pärast, kui himu on rasestunud, toob ta patu ilmale, aga kui patt on täiesti tehtud, sünnitab ta surma.
16 Ärge eksige, mu armsad vennad!
17 Kõik hea and ja kõik täiuslik annetus on ülalt ja tuleb valguse Isalt, Kelle juures ei ole muutust ega varjutuste varju.
18 Tema on meid Oma tahtel sünnitanud tõe sõnaga, et oleksime Tema loodute esmasündinute hulgast.
19 Teie teate seda, mu armsad vennad. Olgu vaid iga inimene nobe kuulma, pikaline rääkima, pikaline vihale.
20 Sest mehe viha ei tekita õigust Jumala ees.
21 Sellepärast heitke ära kõik rüvedus ja viimnegi paha ning võtke tasase meelega vastu sõna, mis teisse istutati ja võib teie hinged päästa!
22 Aga olge sõna tegijad ja mitte ükspäinis kuuljad, iseendid pettes.
23 Sest kui keegi on sõna kuulja ja mitte tegija, siis on ta mehe sarnane, kes vaatab oma ihulikku palet peeglis.
24 Ta vaatas ennast, läks minema ja unustas varsti, missugune ta oli.
25 Aga kes vabaduse täiusliku käsu sisse kummardades on vaadanud ja jääb selle juurde, ei ole unustav kuulja, vaid on teo tegija; see on õnnis oma tegemises.
26 Kui keegi arvab Jumalat teenivat ja ei talitse oma keelt, vaid petab oma südant, selle jumalateenistus on tühine.
27 Puhas ja laitmatu jumalateenistus Jumala ja Isa ees on see: vaestelaste ja lesknaiste eest hoolitseda nende viletsuses ja hoida ennast maailmast reostamatuna.
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.
2 Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;
3 Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;
4 But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.
5 But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.
6 Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.
7 Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;
8 For there is a division in his mind, and he is uncertain in all his ways.
9 But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;
10 But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end.
11 For when the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass gets dry and the grace of its form is gone with the falling flower; so the man of wealth comes to nothing in his ways.
12 There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.
13 Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:
14 But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.
15 Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.
16 Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers.
17 Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.
18 Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.
19 You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;
20 For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.
21 For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.
22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.
23 Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass;
24 For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.
25 But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.
26 If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.
27 The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.