James 1

James · Chapter 1

James 1:2

1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.9Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:10But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.11For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.16Do not err, my beloved brethren.17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.21Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.25But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

James 1:2-11Trials and wisdom

About James 1James writes to "the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad": "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations," for "the trying of your faith worketh patience," and anyone who lacks wisdom should "ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally." God tempts no one; "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust," while "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." So be "swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath," and be "doers of the word, and not hearers only," for pure religion is "To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:1James 1:2James 1:3James 1:5James 1:13James 1:14James 1:17James 1:19James 1:22James 1:27

Who, where and when in this chapter

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
AllΠᾶσανPasanG3956
all

πᾶς (pas) πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, genitive, παντός, πάσης, παντός, [in LXX chiefly for כֹּל ;] all, every. I. As adj., 1. with subst. anarth., all, every, of every kind: Mat.3:10 4:23, Mrk.9:49, Luk.4:37, Jhn.2:1o, Act.27:20, Rom.7:8, Rev.18:17, al. mult.; pl., all, Act.22:15, Rom.5:12, Heb.1:6, al.; of the highest degree, π. ἐξουσία (προθυμία, χαρά), Mat.28:18, Act.17:11, Phi 2:29, al.; also the whole (though in this sense more frequently with art.), Mat.2:3, Act.2:36, Rom.11:26. …

joyχαρὰνcharanG5479
joy

χαρά (chara) χαρά, -ᾶς, ἡ (χαίρω), [in LXX for שִׂמְחָה, שָׂשׂוֹן, etc. ;] joy, delight: Luk.1:14 15:7, 10, Jhn.15:11 16:22, 24 17:13, Act.8:8, 2Co.1:24 7:13 8:2, Gal.5:22, Col.1:11, Php.2:2, 1Jn.1:4, 2Jn.12; opposite to κατήφεια, Jas.4:9; to λύπη, Jhn.16:20; χ. τῆς πίστεως, Php.1:25; ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι (χαίρειν, which see), χαρᾷ, Jhn.3:29, 1Pe.1:8; χ. ἔχειν, Phm 7; πληροῦν (-οῦσθαι) χαρᾶς, Act.13:52, Rom.15:13, 2Ti.1:4; ποιεῖν χ. μεγάλην, Act.15:3; ἀπὸ τῆς χ., Mat.13:44, Luk.24:41, Act.12:14; ἐν χ., Rom.15:32; μετὰ χαρᾶς, Mat.13:20 28:8, Mrk.4:16, Luk.8:13 10:17 24:52, Php.1:4 2:29, Heb.10:34 13:17; id. beforeπ …

do esteem [it],ἡγήσασθε,hēgēsastheG2233
to govern

ἡγέομαι (hēgeomai) ἡγέομαι, -οῦμαι depon. mid., [in LXX (chiefly Pres. ptcp.) for נָגִיד, רֹאשׁ, שַׂר, etc. ;] 1. to lead; (a) to guide, go before; (b) to rule, be leader: present ptcp., ἡγούενος, a ruler, leader (MM, Exp., xiv), Mat.2:6 (LXX), Luk.22:26, Act.7:10 14:12 15:22, Heb.13:7, 17 13:24. …

brothersἀδελφοίadelphoiG0080
brother

ἀδελφός (adelphos) ἀδελφός, -οῦ, ὁ (ἀ- copul., δελφύς, womb), in cl., a brother, born of the same parent or parents. [In LXX (Hort, Ja., 102f.), for אָח ;] 1. lit. of a brother (Gen.4:2, al.). 2. Of a neighbour (Lev.19:17). 3. Of a member of the same nation (Exo.2:14, Deu.15:3). In NT in each of these senses (1. Mat.1:2, al.; 2. Mat.7:3; 3. Rom.9:3) and also, …

of mine,μου,mouG3165
me

μέ (me) 1. apostrophe for με. 2. rarely for μοι, (Homer) (ML)

whenὅτανhotanG3752
when(-ever)

ὅταν (hotan) ὅταν (for ὅτ᾽ ἄν = ὅτε ἄν), temporal particle, with a conditional sense, usually of things expected to occur in an indefinite future; 1. prop., whenever; (a) (a) with subjc. praes.: Mat.6:2, 5 Mrk.14:7, Luk.11:36, Jhn.7:27, Act.23:35, 1Co.3:4, al.; ἕως τ. ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, ὅ., Mat.26:29, Mrk.14:25; before τότε, 1Th.5:3; (b) with subjc. aor. (M, Pr., 185): Mat.5:11, Mrk.4:15, Luk.6:22, Jhn.2:10 8:28 (Field, Notes, 94), 10:4, al. …

trialsπειρασμοῖςpeirasmoisG3986H
temptation/testing: temptation

πειρασμός (peirasmos) πειρασμός, -οῦ, ὁ (πειράζω), [in LXX for מַסָּה, עִנְיָן ;] 1. = πεῖρα, an experiment Diosc.). 2. a trial, of ethical purpose and effect, whether good or evil (see Hort on Jas.1:13) (a) in good or neutral sense: Gal.4:14, Jas.1:12, 1Pe.4:12; esp. of afflictions sent by God (Deu.7:19, Sir.21:1-28, al.): 2Pe.2:9, Rev.3:10; pl., Luk.22:28, Act.20:19, Jas.1:2, 1Pe.1:6; (b) of trial regarded as leading to sin, temptation: Luk.8:13, 1Co.10:13, 1Ti.6:9; of the temptation of Jesus by the devil, Luk.4:13; εἰσφέρειν (ἔρχεσθαι, εἰσέρχ-) εἰς π., Mat.6:13 26:41, Mrk.14:38, Luk.11:4 22:40, 46; …

you may fall intoπεριπέσητεperipesēteG4045
to fall upon

περιπίπτω (peripiptō) περι-πίπτω [in LXX: Rut.2:3, 2Ki.1:6 (קָרָה), Pro.11:5 (נָפַל), Dan LXX 2:9, 2Ma.6:13 2Mac 9:7 2Mac 9:21 2Mac 10:4 * ;] 1. to fall around. 2. to fall in with, light upon, come across: with dative, λῃσταῖς, Luk.10:30; πειρασμοῖς, Jas.1:2; before εἰς, Act.27:41.† (AS)

various,ποικίλοις,poikiloisG4164
various

ποικίλος (poikilos) ποικίλος, -η, -ον [in LXX for נָקֹד, רִקְמָה, etc. ;] many-coloured, variegated. Metaphorical, various, manifold: Mat.4:24, Mrk.1:34, Luk.4:40, 2Ti.3:6, Tit.3:3, Heb.2:4 13:9, Jas.1:2, 1Pe.1:6 4:10.† (AS)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.