Day 81 of 90

¹Let brotherly love continue. ²Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body. ⁴Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. ⁵Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” ⁶So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?” ⁷Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp. ¹²Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate. ¹³Let’s therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach. ¹⁴For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come. ¹⁵Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name. ¹⁶But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. ¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things. ¹⁹I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner. ²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, ²¹make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. ²²But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. ²³Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. ²⁴Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you. ²⁵Grace be with you all. Amen.

^1:1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. ^1:2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, ^1:3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ^1:4Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ^1:5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ^1:6But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. ^1:7For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. ^1:8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. ^1:9Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position; ^1:10and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. ^1:11For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits. ^1:12Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him. ^1:13Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. ^1:14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. ^1:15Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death. ^1:16Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. ^1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow. ^1:18Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. ^1:19So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; ^1:20for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. ^1:21Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ^1:22But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. ^1:23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; ^1:24for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ^1:25But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. ^1:26If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ^1:27Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. ^2:1My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. ^2:2For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, ^2:3and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” ^2:4haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ^2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? ^2:6But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts? ^2:7Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? ^2:8However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. ^2:9But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. ^2:10For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. ^2:11For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ^2:12So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom. ^2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ^2:14What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? ^2:15And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, ^2:16and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? ^2:17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. ^2:18Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ^2:19You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder. ^2:20But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? ^2:21Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? ^2:22You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected. ^2:23So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. ^2:24You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. ^2:25In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? ^2:26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.