Episode 295: The devils also believe

James 1-5

Pure religion

1 ¹ From James to the twelve tribes. Greetings.

⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, ask God and he'll give it to you.

¹⁰ Let no one say, "God has tempted me." God can't be tempted, and he never tempts anyone.

¹⁹ Be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

²⁶ Those who seem to be religious but can't control their tongues are deceiving themselves and their religion is in vain.

²⁷ Pure religion is this: visiting orphans and widows in their affliction and resisting evil influences in the world.

Don't treat the rich better than the poor

2 ^2-4 If rich and poor people come into your assembly, and you respect the rich, while disrespecting the poor, then you are behaving in an evil manner.

⁸ To fulfil the royal law of scripture, you must love your neighbor as yourself.

If you break one law, you break them all

¹⁰ If you obey every law except one, you are guilty of breaking them all.

¹³ If you don't have mercy on others, God won't have mercy on you.

Faith without works is dead (The devils believe. Can their faith save them?)

¹⁴ What good is faith without works? Can faith save you?

^15-16 If someone is naked or hungry, and you say to them, "be warm and eat well" without giving them clothing or food, what good are you doing them?

¹⁷ Faith without works is dead.

¹⁹ You say there is one God. Good for you. The devils also believe.

²⁰ Don't you know that faith without works is dead?

²¹ Wasn't Abraham justified by works?

²⁴ You are justified by works, and not by faith alone.

²⁵ Wasn't Rahab justified by works when she sent the messengers the other way?

²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, faith without works is dead.

Watch what you say

3 ² If you can control what you say, you're perfect.

⁷ Every kind of beast, bird, snake, and sea creature has been tamed by humans.

⁸ But we can’t tame our tongue; it’s an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹ With the same tongue, we praise God and curse others.

Wise people make peace and do good things.

¹³ Wise, knowledgeable people should behave well and do good things.

¹⁴ But those who deserve glory shouldn't be filled with envy and strife.

¹⁸ The fruit of righteousness is sown by those who make peace.

Wars, lusts, and friends of the world

4 ¹ War and fighting comes from your lusts.

² You lust for things you don't have, and fight wars and kill for them. You don't have, because you don't ask.

³ And when you ask, you don't receive because you ask wrong. You ask to satisfy your lusts.

⁴ You adulterers and adulteresses! Whoever is a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

⁷ Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Don't judge or speak badly of others

¹¹ Don't say bad things about one another.

¹² There's one lawgiver who can save and destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Dust in the wind

¹⁴ You don't know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is a vapor that is here for a little while, and then vanishes away.

¹⁷ If you know how to do good and don't do it, you are sinning.

Weep and howl, you rich people

5 ¹ Weep and howl, rich people. Your miseries are coming.

² Your gold and silver will eat your flesh. You've gathered treasure for the last days.

³ Your underpaid workers cry out.

⁶ You have condemned and killed the just people.

The Lord is coming soon (please be patient)

⁷ Be patient while waiting for the coming of the Lord

⁸ He’ll come soon.

Above all things, don't swear

¹² Most important of all, don't swear. Say only "yes" or "no".

Don't say more or you may be condemned.

Pray for the sick (it works every time)

¹³ Pray, if you're suffering. Sing psalms, if you're happy.

¹⁴ If anyone is sick, have the elders pray for them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵ A faithful prayer will cure the sick.

¹⁶ The prayer of the righteous always works.

¹⁷ Elijah prayed that it wouldn't rain. And it didn't rain for three and a half years.

²⁰ If you convert sinners, you'll save their souls from death.