God

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.

Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.

Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.

With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.

Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.