1I, James, am a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing this letter to all the Jewish people who trust in Christ (OR, to all God's people) who are scattered throughout the world. I send my greetings to you all.
2My fellow believers, rejoice greatly, even when you experience various kinds of difficulties/troubles.
3God sometimes allows you to experience difficulties in order to test whether or not you will continue to trust him. Whenever that happens, you need to realize more and more that if you continue to trust him, you will be able to bravely/patiently endure difficulties.
4Keep on enduring difficulties bravely/patiently by trusting God more and more firmly PRS, in order that you may become all that he intends you to be DOU (OR, spiritually mature and complete), not lacking ◄any good quality/anything you need to conduct your lives as God wants you to►.
5If anyone of you does not know how to act wisely in order to endure difficulties/trials well, he should ask God to show him what he should do, because God wholeheartedly/gladly helps all people who ask and does not scold anyone for asking. Those who ask, God will give them wisdom to know what they should do.
6But when you ask God, you should firmly trust him. You should not doubt that he wants to help you always, because people who keep doubting God are unstable/changeable SIM like a wave of the sea that is blown back and forth by the wind {that goes back and forth when the wind blows} DOU, SIM.
7Indeed, people who doubt should not think that the Lord God will do anything that they request him to do,
8because they are people who cannot decide whether they will commit themselves to God, and they are unstable/undecided in everything that they do.
9Believers who are poor should be happy that God considers them very valuable (OR, has exalted them spiritually) MTY.
10And believers who are rich should be happy that they have humbled themselves in order to trust in Jesus Christ (OR, but rich people can only take pride in the fact that God will humble them when he judges everyone IRO), because they and their riches MTY will pass away, just like wild flowers wither SIM.
11When the sun rises, the scorching hot wind dries plants, and their flowers fall and are no longer beautiful. Similarly, rich people will die MET while they are busy working, leaving behind their riches.
12God is pleased with people who bravely/patiently endure difficulties. And when, by bravely enduring difficulties, they have proved that they truly trust him, he will give them eternal life. That is the reward MET that he has promised to give to those who love him.
13If people are tempted to do something that is evil, they should not think that it is God who is tempting them, because God is totally/completely good. He never tempts anyone to do what is evil, nor can he ever be tempted to do anything evil.
14But people strongly desire to do evil PRS things, and as a result they are tempted by those desires {those desires stimulate them} to do something evil PRS, DOU.
15Then, because they have desired MET to do evil PRS things, they begin to MET do PRS them. And when they have become ones who habitually do what is evil MET, if they do not turn away from their sinful behavior, they will be separated from God forever.
16My fellow believers whom I love, stop deceiving yourselves, thinking that God does evil things.
17The truth is that God, our heavenly Father MTY, does only good DOU things for us, in order to help us become all that he intends us to be. He is not like all the things in the sky that he created to give light, because they change; that is, they do not shine the same all the time. But God never changes. He is always good.
18And because he wanted to help us, he gave us spiritual life as a result of our trusting in his true message. So now we have become the first ones of all the people MET that he created to ◄ be totally dedicated to/completely belong to► him.
19My fellow believers whom I love, you know (OR, I want you to now) that every one of you should be eager to pay attention to God's true message. Don't speak without thinking, nor get angry easily,
20because when any one of you gets angry, you will not be doing the righteous things that God wants you to do.
21So stop doing all kinds of evil DOU things, and humbly obey (OR, submit to) the message that God put in your ◄inner beings/hearts►, because he is able to save you SYN if you accept his message.
22Do what God commands in his message. Do not only listen to it, because people who only listen to it and do not obey it are wrong when they think that God will save them.
23Some people hear God's message but do not do what it says MET. They are like someone who looks at his face in a mirror SIM.
24Although he looks at himself, he goes away from the mirror and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25But other people look closely at God's message, which is perfect and which sets people free to voluntarily do what God wants them to do. And if they continue to examine God's message and do not just hear it and then forget it, but do what God tells them to do, God will bless them because of what they do.
26Some people think that they worship God in the right way, but they habitually say evil things MTY. Those people are wrong in thinking SYN that they worship God rightly. The fact is that they worship God ◄in vain/uselessly►.
27One of the things that God has told us to do is to take care of orphans and widows who suffer hardship. Those who do that and who do not think or act immorally like those who do not obey God MTY truly DOU worship God, who is our Father, and God approves of them.
