James 1 – NIV & NASV

New International Version

James 1:1-27

1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19. whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

9Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

12Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord 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 person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire 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 and sisters. 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 and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20because human anger does not produce the righteousness 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 someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their 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.

New Amharic Standard Version

ያዕቆብ 1:1-27

1የእግዚአብሔርና የጌታ የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ አገልጋይ የሆነው ያዕቆብ፤

ለተበተኑ ለዐሥራ ሁለቱ ነገዶች፤

ሰላም ለእናንተ ይሁን።

መከራና ፈተና

2ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ ልዩ ልዩ መከራ ሲደርስባችሁ እንደ ሙሉ ደስታ ቍጠሩት፤ 3ምክንያቱም የእምነታችሁ መፈተን ትዕግሥትን እንደሚያስገኝ ታውቃላችሁ። 4ምንም የማይጐድላችሁ ፍጹማንና ምሉኣን እንድትሆኑ ትዕግሥት ሥራውን ይፈጽም። 5ከእናንተ ማንም ጥበብ ቢጐድለው፣ ሳይነቅፍ በልግስና ለሁሉም የሚሰጠውን እግዚአብሔርን ይለምን፤ ለእርሱም ይሰጠዋል። 6ዳሩ ግን ሳይጠራጠር በእምነት ይለምን፤ ምክንያቱም የሚጠራጠር ሰው በነፋስ እንደሚገፋና እንደሚናወጥ የባሕር ማዕበል ነው። 7ያ ሰው፣ ከጌታ አንዳች ነገር አገኛለሁ ብሎ አያስብ፤ 8እርሱ በሁለት ሐሳብ የተያዘና በመንገዱ ሁሉ የሚወላውል ነው።

9ዝቅ ያለው ወንድም ከፍ በማለቱ ይመካ። 10ባለጠጋውም ዝቅ በማለቱ ይመካ፤ እንደ ሣር አበባ ይረግፋልና። 11ፀሓይ በነዲድ ሙቀቷ ወጥታ ሣሩን ታጠወልጋለችና፤ አበባው ይረግፋል፤ ውበቱም ይጠፋል፤ እንዲሁም ባለጠጋ ሰው፣ በዕለት ተግባሩ ሲዋትት ሳለ ይጠፋል።

12በፈተና የሚጸና ሰው የተባረከ ነው፤ ምክንያቱም ፈተናን ሲቋቋም እግዚአብሔር ለሚወድዱት የሰጠውን ተስፋ፣ የሕይወትን አክሊል ያገኛል።

13ማንም ሲፈተን፣ “እግዚአብሔር ፈተነኝ” አይበል፤ ምክንያቱም እግዚአብሔር በክፉ አይፈተንም፤ እርሱም ማንንም አይፈትንም፤ 14ነገር ግን እያንዳንዱ የሚፈተነው በራሱ ክፉ ምኞት ሲሳብና ሲታለል ነው። 15ምኞትም ከፀነሰች በኋላ ኀጢአትን ትወልዳለች፤ ኀጢአትም ካደገች በኋላ ሞትን ትወልዳለች።

16የተወደዳችሁ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ አትታለሉ። 17በጎ ስጦታና ፍጹም በረከት ሁሉ ከላይ፣ ከሰማይ ብርሃናት አባት ይወርዳሉ፤ በእርሱ ዘንድ መለዋወጥ፣ ከመዞር የተነሣ የሚያርፍ ጥላም የለም። 18የፍጥረቱ በኵራት እንድንሆን በገዛ ፈቃዱ በእውነት ቃል ወለደን።

ሰምቶ በሥራ ላይ ማዋል

19የተወደዳችሁ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ ይህን አስተውሉ፤ ሰው ሁሉ ለመስማት የፈጠነ፣ ለመናገር የዘገየ፣ ለቍጣም የዘገየ ይሁን፤ 20የሰው ቍጣ የእግዚአብሔርን ጽድቅ አያመጣምና። 21ስለዚህ ርኩሰትንና ተንሰራፍቶ የሚገኘውን ክፋትን አስወግዳችሁ ነፍሳችሁን ማዳን የሚችለውን፣ በውስጣችሁም የተተከለውን ቃል በትሕትና ተቀበሉ።

22ቃሉ የሚናገረውን አድርጉ እንጂ ሰሚዎች ብቻ ሆናችሁ ራሳችሁን አታታልሉ። 23ቃሉን የሚሰማ፣ ነገር ግን የሚለውን የማይፈጽም ሰው ፊቱን በመስተዋት እንደሚያይ ሰው ነው፤ 24ራሱንም አይቶ ይሄዳል፤ ወዲያውም ምን እንደሚመስል ይረሳል፤ 25ነገር ግን ነጻ የሚያወጣውን ፍጹም ሕግ ተመልክቶ የሚጸና፣ የሰማውን የሚያደርግና የማይረሳ ሰው በሥራው የተባረከ ይሆናል።

26አንደበቱን ሳይገታ፣ ልቡን እያሳተ ሃይማኖተኛ ነኝ የሚል ሰው፣ ራሱን ያታልላል፤ ሃይማኖቱም ከንቱ ነው። 27በእግዚአብሔር አብ ፊት ንጹሕና ነውር የሌለበት ሃይማኖት ይህ ነው፤ ወላጆቻቸው የሞቱባቸውን ልጆችና ባሎቻቸው የሞቱባቸውን ሴቶች በችግራቸው መርዳትና ከዓለም ርኩሰት ራስን መጠበቅ ነው።