New Testament Plan

¹Let love of the brothers and sisters continue.

²Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

³Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are badly treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

⁴Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

⁵Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER ABANDON YOU,”

⁶so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”

⁷Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their way of life, imitate their faith.

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.

⁹Do not be misled by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.

¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.

¹²Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood.

¹³So then, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

¹⁴For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

¹⁵Through Him then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name.

¹⁶And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them—for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.

¹⁸Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.

¹⁹And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you more quickly.

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, that is, Jesus our Lord,

²¹equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²But I urge you, brothers and sisters, listen patiently to this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

²³Know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.

²⁴Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

¹James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

²Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,

³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

⁴And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

⁶But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

⁷For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

⁸being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

¹⁰but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.

¹²Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

¹³No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

¹⁵Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.

¹⁷Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

¹⁸In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

¹⁹You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;

²⁰for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.

²¹Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

²²But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.

²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

²⁴for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

²⁵But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

²⁷Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

¹My brothers and sisters, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.

²For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in bright clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in,

³and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”

⁴have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: did God not choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?

⁷Do they not blaspheme the good name by which you have been called?

⁸If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well.

⁹But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.

¹¹For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law.

¹²So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.

¹³For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

¹⁷In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

¹⁸But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

¹⁹You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

²⁰But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?

²¹Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;

²³and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called a friend of God.

²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.