1James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, greets the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion.2My brothers, consider all joy whenever you fall into various temptations.3Knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.4And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and whole, lacking nothing.5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God, who gives to all without reserve and without reviling, and it will be given to him.6But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing; for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is wind-blown and tossed.7For that man should not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.8A double-minded man is restless in all his ways.9Let the lowly brother boast in his height.10But the rich should boast in his lowliness, because he will pass away like a flower of grass.11For the sun rose with the heat and dried the grass; its flower fell, and the beauty of its face perished. Likewise the rich man will wither in his journeys.12Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because once he has been tested he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him.13Let no one who is tempted say, 'I am tempted by God'; for God is untempted by evils, and he himself tempts no one.14Each person is tempted by his own desire when he is dragged away and enticed.15Then desire, after it has conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, once it is completed, brings forth death.16Do not be led astray, my beloved brothers.17Every good gift and every perfect free gift comes down from above, from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow caused by turning.18Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.