New Testament Plan

¹Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.

²Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

³Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

⁴Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

⁶So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

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

⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.

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

¹¹The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.

¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

¹³Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

¹⁴For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

¹⁶And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

¹⁷Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

¹⁸Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

¹⁹I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

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

²¹equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

²²Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.

²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

⁴Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

⁶But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

⁷That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

⁸Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

⁹Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.

¹⁰But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.

¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

¹²Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

¹³When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

¹⁴but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

¹⁵Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

¹⁶Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

¹⁸He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

²⁰because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror

²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

²⁵But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

²⁶Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

¹My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

⁷Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

¹¹For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,

¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

¹⁵Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.

¹⁶If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

²¹Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.

²⁴You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.