THE Entire Epistle of James;
based on The King James Bible of 1611.
Edited & Formatted to be read with the reading of:
The Epistle of James
If you are reading along from your own King James Bible,
please note, there may be some minor word variations,
depending on which edition of the King James Bible you are using.
The Epistle of James
Ch. 1 Jas.
1:1 James, a servant of God, and of the
Lord Jesus Christ, to the
twelve tribes which are
scattered abroad, greeting.
1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye
fall into divers temptations;
1:3 knowing that the trying of your faith
worketh patience.
1:4 But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect, and
entire, wanting nothing.
1:5 If 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.
1:6 But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering.
For he that wavereth is
like a wave of the sea,
driven with the wind, and tossed.
1:7 For let not that man think that he
shall receive any thing of the Lord.
1:8 A double minded man is
unstable in all his ways.
1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice,
in that he is exalted:
1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low:
Because, as the flower of the, grass
he shall pass away.
1:11 For 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.
1:12 Blessed 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.
1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God:
For God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man:
1:14 But every man is tempted,
when he is drawn away of his own
lust, and enticed.
1:15 Then, when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin:
And sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death.
1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
1:17 Every 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.
1:18 Of his own will begat he us,
with the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath:
1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God.
1:21 Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness, the
engrafted word,
which is able to save your souls.
1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not
hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.
1:23 For 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:
1:24 For he beholdeth himself and
goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was.
1:25 But 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.
1:26 If any man among you seem to be
religious, and bridleth not his
tongue but deceiveth his own heart,
this man's religion is vain.
1:27 Pure 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.
Ch. 2 Jas.
2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory,
with respect of persons.
2:2 For if there come unto your assembly,
a man with a gold ring, in
goodly apparel,
and there come in also a
poor man in vile raiment;
2:3 and ye have respect to him that
weareth the gay clothing,
and say unto him,
sit thou here in a good place;
and say to the poor,
stand thou there, or
sit here, under my footstool:
2:4 Are ye not then partial in
yourselves,
and are become judges of
evil thoughts?
2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren,
hath not God chosen the poor of this
world, rich in faith, and heirs of
the kingdom which he hath promised to
them that love him?
2:6 But ye have despised the poor.
Do not rich men oppress you, and
draw you before the judgment seats?
2:7 Do not they blaspheme that
worthy name, by the which ye are called?
2:8 If ye fulfill the royal law,
according to the scripture,
Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
2:9 But if ye have respect to persons,
ye commit sin, and are *convinced*
of the law, as transgressors.
2:10 For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all.
2:11 For he that said, do not commit
adultery, said also, do not kill.
Now if thou commit no adultery,
yet, if thou kill, thou art become a
transgressor of the law.
2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that
shall be judged by the law of
liberty.
2:13 For he shall have judgment without
mercy, that hath shewed no mercy;
and mercy rejoiceth, against judgment.
2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith,
and have not works?
Can faith save him?
2:15 If a brother or sister be naked,
and destitute of daily food,
2:16 and one of you say unto them,
depart in peace, be ye warmed and
filled;
notwithstanding, ye give them not
those things which are needful to
the body; what doth it profit?
2:17 Even so, faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone.
2:18 Yea, a man may say,
thou hast faith, and I have works:
Shew me thy faith without thy works, and
I will shew thee my faith by my works.
2:19 Thou believest that there is one God;
thou doest well:
The devils also believe, and tremble.
2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works, is dead?
2:21 Was not Abraham, our
father, justified by works, when he had
offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar?
2:22 Seest thou, how faith,
wrought with his works, and by works,
was faith made perfect?
2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which
saith, Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed unto him for
righteousness:
And he was called the
Friend of God.
2:24 Ye see then, how that by works a
man is justified, and not by faith only.
2:25 Likewise also, was not Rahab the
harlot justified by works,
when she had received the
messengers, and
had sent them out another way?
2:26 For as the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith, without works,
is dead also.
*Ch. 2,vs.9 convicted
Ch. 3 Jas.
3:1 My brethren, be not many masters,
knowing that we shall receive the
greater condemnation.
3:2 For in many things we offend all.
If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect man, and
able also to bridle the whole body.
3:3 Behold, we put bits in the
horses' mouths, that they may
obey us;
and we turn about their whole body.
3:4 Behold also the ships, which though
they be so great, and are
driven of fierce winds,
yet are they turned about with a
very small helm,
whithersoever the governor listeth.
3:5 Even so, the tongue is a
little member, and boasteth great things.
Behold, how great a matter, a
little fire kindleth!
3:6 And the tongue is a fire,
a world of iniquity:
So is the tongue
among our members,
that it defileth the whole body, and
setteth on fire the course of
nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
3:7 For every kind of beasts,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of
things in the sea, is tamed, and
hath been tamed, of mankind:
3:8 But the tongue, can no man tame;
it is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison.
3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the
Father; and therewith curse we
men, which are made after the
similitude of God.
3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing, and cursing.
My brethren,
these things ought not so to be.
3:11 Doth a fountain send forth,
at the same place,
sweet water and bitter?
3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren,
bear olive berries?
Either a vine, figs?
So, can no fountain both yield, salt
water and fresh.
3:13 Who is a wise man and
endued with knowledge among you?
Let him shew,
out of a good conversation,
his works,
with meekness of wisdom.
3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and
strife in your hearts, glory not,
and lie not against the truth.
3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish.
3:16 For where envying and strife is,
there is confusion, and every evil
work.
3:17 But the wisdom that is from above,
is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, easy to be entreated, full of
mercy, and good fruits, without
partiality, and without hypocrisy.
3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is
sown in peace, of them that make
peace.
Ch. 4 Jas.
4:1 From whence come wars and
fightings among you?
Come they not hence, even of your
lusts, that war in your members?
4:2 Ye lust, and have not:
Ye kill, and desire to have, and
cannot obtain:
Ye fight and war, yet ye have not,
because ye ask not.
4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye
ask amiss, that ye may consume
it upon your lusts.
4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God?
Whosoever therefore, will be a
friend of the world,
is the enemy of God.
4:5 Do ye think that the
scripture saith in vain,
the spirit that dwelleth in us,
lusteth to envy?
4:6 But he giveth more grace.
Wherefore he saith,
God resisteth the
proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
4:7 Submit yourselves, therefore, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you.
4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will
draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and
purify your hearts, ye double minded.
4:9 Be afflicted and mourn, and weep:
Let your laughter be turned to
mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
4:10 Humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord,
and he shall lift you up.
4:11 Speak not evil, one of another,
brethren.
He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother,
speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law:
But if thou judge the law,
thou art not a doer of the law,
but a judge.
4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to
save and to destroy:
Who art thou, that judgest another?
4:13 Go to now, ye that say, to day or
tomorrow, we will go into such a
city,
and continue there a year,
and buy and sell, and get gain:
4:14 Whereas, ye know not what shall be on
the morrow.
For what is your life?
It is even a vapor,
that appeareth for a little time,
and then, vanisheth away.
4:15 For that ye ought to say,
if the Lord will, we shall live, and do
this, or that.
4:16 But now, ye rejoice in your boastings:
All such rejoicing is evil.
4:17 Therefore, to him that knoweth to
do good, and doeth it not, to him,
it is sin.
Ch. 5 Jas.
5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and
howl for your miseries that shall
come upon you.
5:2 Your riches are corrupted, and your
garments are moth eaten.
5:3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and
the rust of them shall be a
witness against you, and shall eat your
flesh as it were fire.
Ye have heaped treasure together for the
last days.
5:4 Behold,
the hire of the laborers who have
reaped down your fields,
which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth:
And the cries of them which
have reaped, are entered into the
ears of the Lord of Hosts.(Sabboth)
5:5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the
earth, and been wanton; ye have
nourished your hearts, as in a
day of slaughter.
5:6 Ye have condemned and killed the
just; and he doth not resist you.
5:7 Be patient therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the
precious fruit of the earth, and hath
long patience for it,
until he receive the early, and latter rain.
5:8 Be ye also patient;
stablish your hearts:
For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
5:9 Grudge not,
one against another, brethren,
lest ye be condemned:
behold,
the judge standeth before the door.
5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets,
who have spoken in the name of the
Lord, for an example of suffering affliction,
and of patience.
5:11 Behold, we count them happy which
endure. Ye have heard of the
patience of Job,
and have seen the end of the Lord;
that the Lord is very pitiful, and of
tender mercy.
5:12 But above all things, my brethren,
swear not, neither by heaven,
neither by the earth, neither by
any other oath:
But let your yea be yea;
and your nay, nay;
lest ye fall into condemnation.
5:13 Is any among you afflicted?
Let him pray.
Is any merry?
Let him sing psalms.
5:14 Is any sick among you?
Let him call for the elders of the
church; and let them pray over him,
anointing him with oil,
in the name of the Lord:
5:15 And the prayer of faith shall
save the sick, and the Lord shall
raise him up;
and if he have committed sins,
they shall be forgiven him.
5:16 Confess your faults,
one to another, and pray, one for
another, that ye may be healed.
The effectual, fervent prayer of a
righteous man, availeth much.
5:17 Elias was a man subject to
like passions as we are, and he
prayed earnestly,
that it might not rain:
And it rained not on the
earth by the space of three years and
six months.
5:18 And he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit.
5:19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the
truth, and one convert him;
5:20 let him know, that he which
converteth the sinner from the error of
his way, shall save a soul from death,
and shall hide, a multitude of sins.