James 1: ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of
many kinds, ³because
you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything. ⁵If any of
you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who
doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

 ¹²Blessed is the man who
perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the
crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ¹³When
tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴but each
one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. ¹⁵Then,
after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, gives birth to death. ¹⁶Don't be
deceived, my dear brothers. ¹⁷Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ¹⁸He chose
to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of
firstfruits of all he created. 

Listening and Doing

 ¹⁹My dear
brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak
and slow to become angry, ²⁰for man's
anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so
prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. ²²Do not
merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.²³Anyone
who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at
his face in a mirror ²⁴and,
after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the
man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues
to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed
in what he does. ²⁶If anyone considers himself
religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself
and his religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by
the world.