THE EPISTLE OF
JACOB

ἸΆΚΩΒΟΣ         יַעֲקֹב

Jacob, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Twelve Tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Consider all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you might fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

If now any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all generously and not reproaching, and it will be given to him. However, he must ask in faith, not doubting, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That type of person should not suppose that he’ll receive anything from the Lord, because he’s a double-minded person, unstable in all his ways.

However, may the brother who is in a humble position boast when he’s exalted, and may the rich man also boast when he’s humbled, because, like a flower of grass, he will pass away. For the sun rises with its burning heat and withers the grass, its flower falls and its beauty perishes. Thus also the rich man, in the midst of his pursuits, will fade away.

Blessed is the man who endures the trials, because, when approved, he’ll receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. No one who is put to test can say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God is unable to be tempted by evils, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. A man, however, is tempted by his own desire, being drawn away and enticed by it. Then desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and when sin is brought to maturity, it brings forth death. Don’t be misled, my beloved brothers and sisters: Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. According to His will, He gave us new birth by the word of truth for us to be firstfruits of His creatures.

Know this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone, however, be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger, because a man’s anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, having put aside all filthiness and abundant evil, receive in humility the implanted word that is able to save your souls. However, be doers of the word, not just hearers of it and deceiving yourselves, because if someone is only a hearer, and also not a doer, he is like someone who looks at his own face in a mirror - he has looked at himself and immediately forgotten what he was like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect Torah of freedom and remains in it, not being a forgetful hearer but a work doer, will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone seems to be religious, but doesn’t bridle his own tongue and deceives himself, his religion is worthless. Religion pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulation; and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

My brothers and sisters, if you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory, don’t show favoritism. For example: suppose a man comes into your “synagogue” wearing a gold ring and dressed in splendid clothes. Then a poor man wearing filthy clothes also comes in. If you pay attention to the one wearing the splendid clothes and say, “You, sit here honorably,” but to the poor one, you say, “You stand there,” or “Sit at my feet”, then haven’t you made separations among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He promised to those who love him? You, however, have dishonored the poor man. Aren’t the rich ones oppressing you and dragging you into court? Aren’t they blaspheming the good Name that has been called upon you? If you indeed keep the royal Torah, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, you do well. But if you show favoritism, you are committing sin, being convicted as transgressors by the Torah. For whoever keeps all the Torah, but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all of it. Because He who said, “Do not commit adultery”, also said, “Do not murder”. But if you don’t commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah. Speak and act as one who’s about to be judged by the Torah of freedom. For judgment will be without mercy to those who don’t show mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

My brothers and sisters, what is the profit if someone says to have faith but has no works? Such faith is not able to save him, is it? Now if a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and without daily food, and someone from you says to them, “Go in peace; be warmed and be filled,” but doesn’t give to them the things that are necessary for the body, what is the profit? In the same way, faith is also dead by itself if it has no works.

But someone will say: “You have faith, and I have works.” Then show me your faith without works, and I’ll show you the faith by my works. You have faith that God is one. Very well! Even the demons have that faith and they shudder!

But do you want to know, O empty person, that faith apart from works is useless? Our father Abraham - was he not justified by works, offering Isaac his son on the altar? You see that his faith was cooperating with his works, and by his works his faith was perfected. And the Scripture was fulfilled, saying: “And Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. You see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, welcoming the messengers and sending them out on another route?

Because just as the body apart from spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Not many of you should be teachers, my brothers and sisters, knowing that we will receive greater judgment, because we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle even all the body. Now if we put bridles of the horses

Footnotes

a. That’s the author’s original Jewish name, Yakov, transliterated into Greek as Jakob/Jakobos, which later, going through Latin and towards English, it was translated into James. There were many Jews named Jacob in 1st century Palestine, so the next sentence, “a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”, and the context of the letter, allows the reader to know which Jacob are we talking about.

b. Gk. doulos, usually translated as servant or bond-servant.

c. Gk. Diaspora, meaning “dispersion” or “scattering”. Context: “The Jewish diaspora began with the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, where large numbers of Jews were taken from their homeland and settled in foreign lands. This dispersion continued through various historical events, including the conquests by the Greeks and Romans. The diaspora played a significant role in the spread of Judaism and later Christianity, as Jewish communities established synagogues and maintained their religious practices in foreign lands. These communities often served as a bridge for the spread of the Gospel in the early Christian era.” (Berean Strong’s Lexicon)

d. Gk. chairó, which means “to rejoice”, “to be glad”, but also used as a salutation.

e. Or “brothers”. Gk. adelphoi.

f. Or temptations.

g. “In the ancient Greco-Roman world, the concept of testing was common in various contexts, such as metallurgy, where metals were tested for purity and quality. This imagery is applied metaphorically in the New Testament to describe the spiritual testing of believers. Such trials were understood as opportunities for growth and refinement, much like the refining of precious metals.” (Berean Strong’s Lexicon)

h. "Now, that word 'perfect', it's really important for Jacob, he repeats it 7 times in the book. In Biblical Hebrew and in Greek (τέλειος) this word refers to 'wholeness'. It means living a completely integrated life where your actions are always consistent with the values and beliefs that you've received from Jesus. Jacob knows that most of us actually live as fractured people with big inconsistencies in our character; we are all more compromised than we want to admit. However, God is on a mission to restore fractured people to make them whole." - Tim Mackie, "Book of James Summary: A Complete Animated Overview", 2016.

i. Or “assembly” The original Greek word is “sunagógé”, which can be either a synagogue or gathering, assembly. Here it was translated as “synagogue” due to the fact that he’s addressing Jewish Christians. Many other words from the Jewish context are brought here in the translation of Jacob’s epistle.

j. Or “law”, “instruction” (check note i).

k. Or “that there’s only one God”. This is a reference to Deut. 6:4 - “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one.”

l. Lit. “You do well!” or “You’re doing well!”.

m. In the original Greek, this word "φρίσσω" (phrisso - to be rough, to shiver, shudder; to bristle, stiffen, stand up; to shudder, to be struck with extreme fear, to be horrified) is only used here in James.