1
Iames a seruaunt of God, and of the lorde Iesus Christ, to ye twelue tribes which are scattred abroade, greetyng.
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My brethren, count it all ioy whe ye fall into diuers temptations:
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Knowyng (this) that the trying of your fayth worketh patience:
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And let patience haue [her] perfect worke, that ye may be perfect & sounde, lackyng nothyng.
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If any of you lacke wisdome, let him aske of God, that geueth to all men indifferentlie, and casteth no man in the teeth: and it shalbe geuen hym.
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But let hym aske in fayth, nothyng waueryng: For he that wauereth, is like a waue of the sea, tost of the wynde, and caryed with violence.
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Neither let that man thynke that he shall receaue any thyng of the Lorde.
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A double mynded man, [is] vnstable in all his wayes.
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Let the brother of lowe degree, reioyce in that he is exalted:
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Agayne, the riche, in that he is made lowe: Because as the flowre of the grasse he shall passe away.
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For the sunne hath rysen with heate, and the grasse hath withered, and his flowre hath fallen away, & the beautie of the fashion of it hath perished: So also shall the ryche man fade away in his wayes.
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Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: For when he is tryed, he shall receaue the crowne of lyfe, which the Lorde hath promised to them that loue hym.
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Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God can not be tempted with euyl, neither tempteth he any man:
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But euery man is tempted, when he is drawen away, & entised of his owne concupiscence.
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Then, when lust hath conceaued, it bryngeth foorth sinne: and sinne when it is finished, bryngeth foorth death.
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Do not erre my deare brethren.
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Euery good geuyng, and euery perfect gyft is from aboue, and cometh downe from the father of lyghtes, with who is no variablenes, neither shadow of turnyng.
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Of his owne wyll begat he vs with the worde of trueth, that we shoulde be the first fruites of his creatures.
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Wherfore my deare brethre, let euery man be swyft to heare, slowe to speake, slowe to wrath.
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For the wrath of man, worketh not that which is ryghteous before God.
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Wherfore, lay apart all filthinesse, and superfluitie of maliciousnes, and receaue with mekenesse, the worde that is graffed in you, which is able to saue your soules.
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And be ye doers of the worde, and not hearers only, deceauyng your owne selues.
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For yf any be a hearer of the worde, and not a doer, he is lyke vnto a man beholdyng his bodyly face in a glasse:
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For he hath considered hym selfe, and is gone his wayes, & hath forgotten immediatly what his fashion was.
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But who so loketh in the perfect lawe of libertie, and continueth [therin] he being not a forgetfull hearer, but a doer of the worke, shalbe blessed in his deede.
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If any man among you seeme to be deuout, and refrayneth not his tongue, but deceaueth his owne heart, this mans deuotion is vayne.
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Pure deuotion and vndefyled before God and the father, is this: To visite the fatherlesse and widdowes in their aduersitie, and to kepe hymselfe vnspotted of the worlde.