subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11 Now all chastening for the present indeed seems not joyous, but grievous; but afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, to those who have been exercised thereby.

12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 and make straight paths for your feet, that the lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.

14 Follow peace with all, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord; 15 looking diligently, lest any one come short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and the many be thereby defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright. 17 For ye know that he also afterward, when he wished to inherit the blessing, was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought after it with tears.

18 For ye have not come to a mount that is touched, and burning with fire, nor to blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they who heard refused that more should be spoken to them; 20 for they could not bear that which was commanded, Even if a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; 21 and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said: I fear, and tremble. 22 But ye have come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the first-born, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just ones made perfect; 24 and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better than Abel.

25 See that ye refuse not him who speaks; for if they did not escape, refusing him who declared the divine will on earth, much more shall not we, who turn away from him who speaks from heaven; 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now he

has promised, saying: Yet once more I shake, not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this,

Yet once more, signifies the removing of the things shaken, as of things that have been made, that the things which are not shaken may remain.

28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom which can not be shaken, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

XIII. LET brotherly love continue.

2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some entertained angels unawares.

3 Remember those in bonds, as bound with them; those in adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

4 Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

5 Let your disposition be without covetousness, and be content with what ye have; for he has said: I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we boldly say:

The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear;

What shall man do to me?

Remember those who were your leaders, who spoke to you the word of God; considering the end of whose manner of life, imitate their faith.

8 Jesus Christ is yesterday and to-day the same, and forever. Be not carried away with various and strange teachings; for it is good that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which did not profit those who walked therein.

10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle. 11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priests for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 So then, let us go forth to him without

V. 4. Or, Let marriage be honorable in all, and the bed be undefiled

the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For here we have not an abiding city, but are seeking for that which is to come.

15 Through him, therefore, let us offer up the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips giving thanks to his name. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

17 Obey those who are your leaders, and submit; for they watch for your souls, as those who shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with sighing, for that is unprofitable for you.

18 Pray for us; for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to deport ourselves well. 19 But I the more earnestly beseech you to do this, that I may the sooner be restored to you.

20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep in virtue of the blood of an eternal covenant, 21 make you perfect in every good work to do his will, doing in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

22 But I beseech you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation; for I wrote to you in few words.

23 Know that the brother, Timothy, has been set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.

24 Salute all that are your leaders, and all the saints. Those of Italy salute you.

25 Grace be with you all. Amen.

THE GENERAL LETTER OF JAMES.

I. JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to

the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into various temptations; knowing that the proving of your faith works patience. But let patience have a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

But if any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally, and upbraids not, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man suppose that he shall receive anything from the Lord; a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

8

Let the brother of low degree glory in that he is exalted; 10 but the rich, in that he is made low; because as the flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rose with the burning heat, and withered the grass, and its flower fell off, and the grace of its fashion perished; so also will the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Happy is the man that endures temptation; because, when he is approved, he will receive the crown of life, which He promised to those who love him.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God can not be tempted with evil, and himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted, when by his own lust he is drawn away and enticed. 15 Then lust, having conceived, brings forth sin; and sin, when completed, brings forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom there is no variableness, or shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will he begot us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.

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V. 1. Gr. which are in the dispersion

19 So that, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore, putting off all filthiness and excess of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if any one is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he beheld himself, and has gone away; and 25 But he immediately he forgot what manner of man he was. who looked into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and remained thereby, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of work, this man shall be happy in his doing.

26 If any one thinks that he is religious, and bridles not his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Religion, pure and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: To visit the orphans and widows in their affliction; to keep himself unspotted from the world.

II. My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus

Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there have come into your assembly a man with a gold ring, in gay clothing, and there have come in also a poor man in mean clothing; and ye have respect to him that wears the gay clothing, and say: Sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor man: Stand thou there, or, Sit under my footstool; 4 were ye not partial in yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Hearken, my beloved brethren. Did not God choose the poor as to this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him? But ye dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and do not they drag you before the judgment-seats? "Do not they blaspheme the worthy name by which ye are called?

V. 5. Or, the poor in view of the world