¹James, of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ a servant, to the Twelve Tribes who are in the dispersion: Hail!

¹የእግዚአብሔርና የጌታ የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ባሪያ ያዕቆብ ለተበተኑ ለአሥራ ሁለቱ ወገኖች፤ ሰላም ለእናንተ ይሁን።

²All joy count [it], my brethren, when ye may fall into temptations manifold;

²ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፥ የእምነታችሁ መፈተን ትዕግሥትን እንዲያደርግላችሁ አውቃችሁ፥ ልዩ ልዩ ፈተና ሲደርስባችሁ እንደ ሙሉ ደስታ ቍጠሩት

³knowing that the proof of your faith doth work endurance,

⁴ትዕግሥትም ምንም የሚጎድላችሁ ሳይኖር ፍጹማንና ምሉዓን ትሆኑ ዘንድ ሥራውን ይፈጽም።

⁴and let the endurance have a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire — in nothing lacking;

⁵ከእናንተ ግን ማንም ጥበብ ቢጎድለው፥ ሳይነቅፍ በልግስና ለሁሉ የሚሰጠውን እግዚአብሔርን ይለምን፥ ለእርሱም ይሰጠዋል።

⁵and if any of you do lack wisdom, let him ask from God, who is giving to all liberally, and not reproaching, and it shall be given to him;

⁶ነገር ግን በምንም ሳይጠራጠር በእምነት ይለምን፤ የሚጠራጠር ሰው በነፋስ የተገፋና የተነቃነቀ የባሕርን ማዕበል ይመስላልና።

⁶and let him ask in faith, nothing doubting, for he who is doubting hath been like a wave of the sea, driven by wind and tossed,

⁷ሁለት አሳብ ላለው በመንገዱም ሁሉ ለሚወላውል ለዚያ ሰው ከጌታ ዘንድ አንዳች እንዲያገኝ አይምሰለው።

⁷for let not that man suppose that he shall receive anything from the Lord —

⁹የተዋረደው ወንድም ግን በከፍታው፥ ባለ ጠጋም በውርደቱ ይመካ፤ እንደ ሣር አበባ ያልፋልና።

⁸a two-souled man [is] unstable in all his ways.

¹¹ፀሐይ ከትኵሳት ጋር ይወጣልና፥ ሣርንም ያጠወልጋልና፥ አበባውም ይረግፋልና፥ የመልኩም ውበት ይጠፋልና፤ እንዲሁ ደግሞ ባለ ጠጋው በመንገዱ ይዝላል።

⁹And let the brother who is low rejoice in his exaltation,

¹²በፈተና የሚጸና ሰው የተባረከ ነው፤ ከተፈተነ በኋላ ለሚወዱት ተስፋ ስለ እርሱ የሰጣቸውን የሕይወትን አክሊል ይቀበላልና።

¹⁰and the rich in his becoming low, because as a flower of grass he shall pass away;

¹³ማንም ሲፈተን። በእግዚአብሔር እፈተናለሁ አይበል፤ እግዚአብሔር በክፉ አይፈተንምና፤ እርሱ ራሱስ ማንንም አይፈትንም።

¹¹for the sun did rise with the burning heat, and did wither the grass, and the flower of it fell, and the grace of its appearance did perish, so also the rich in his way shall fade away!

¹⁴ነገር ግን እያንዳንዱ በራሱ ምኞት ሲሳብና ሲታለል ይፈተናል።

¹²Happy the man who doth endure temptation, because, becoming approved, he shall receive the crown of the life, which the Lord did promise to those loving Him.

¹⁵ከዚህ በኋላ ምኞት ፀንሳ ኃጢአትን ትወልዳለች፤ ኃጢአትም ካደገች በኋላ ሞትን ትወልዳለች።

¹³Let no one say, being tempted — `From God I am tempted,` for God is not tempted of evil, and Himself doth tempt no one,

¹⁶የተወደዳችሁ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፥ አትሳቱ።

¹⁴and each one is tempted, by his own desires being led away and enticed,

¹⁷በጎ ስጦታ ሁሉ ፍጹምም በረከት ሁሉ ከላይ ናቸው፥ መለወጥም በእርሱ ዘንድ ከሌለ በመዞርም የተደረገ ጥላ በእርሱ ዘንድ ከሌለ ከብርሃናት አባት ይወርዳሉ።

¹⁵afterward the desire having conceived, doth give birth to sin, and the sin having been perfected, doth bring forth death.

¹⁸ለፍጥረቱ የበኵራት ዓይነት እንድንሆን በእውነት ቃል አስቦ ወለደን።

¹⁶Be not led astray, my brethren beloved;

¹⁹ስለዚህ፥ የተወደዳችሁ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፥ ሰው ሁሉ ለመስማት የፈጠነ ለመናገርም የዘገየ ለቍጣም የዘገየ ይሁን፤

¹⁷every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning;

²⁰የሰው ቍጣ የእግዚአብሔርን ጽድቅ አይሠራምና።

¹⁸having counselled, He did beget us with a word of truth, for our being a certain first-fruit of His creatures.

²¹ስለዚህ ርኵሰትን ሁሉ የክፋትንም ትርፍ አስወግዳችሁ፥ ነፍሳችሁን ማዳን የሚችለውን በውስጣችሁም የተተከለውን ቃል በየዋህነት ተቀበሉ።

¹⁹So then, my brethren beloved, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

²²ቃሉን የምታደርጉ ሁኑ እንጂ ራሳችሁን እያሳታችሁ የምትሰሙ ብቻ አትሁኑ።

²⁰for the wrath of a man the righteousness of God doth not work;

²³ቃሉን የሚሰማ የማያደርገውም ቢኖር የተፈጥሮ ፊቱን በመስተዋት የሚያይን ሰው ይመስላል፤

²¹wherefore having put aside all filthiness and superabundance of evil, in meekness be receiving the engrafted word, that is able to save your souls;

²⁴ራሱን አይቶ ይሄዳልና፥ ወዲያውም እንደ ምን እንደ ሆነ ይረሳል።

²²and become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves,

²⁵ነገር ግን ነጻ የሚያወጣውን ፍጹሙን ሕግ ተመልክቶ የሚጸናበት፥ ሥራንም የሚሠራ እንጂ ሰምቶ የሚረሳ ያልሆነው፥ በሥራው የተባረከ ይሆናል።

²³because, if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one hath been like to a man viewing his natural face in a mirror,

²⁶አንደበቱን ሳይገታ ልቡን እያሳተ እግዚአብሔርን የሚያመልክ የሚመስለው ማንም ቢኖር የእርሱ አምልኮ ከንቱ ነው።

²⁴for he did view himself, and hath gone away, and immediately he did forget of what kind he was;

²⁷ንጹሕ የሆነ ነውርም የሌለበት አምልኮ በእግዚአብሔር አብ ዘንድ ይህ ነው፤ ወላጆች የሌላቸውን ልጆች ባልቴቶችንም በመከራቸው መጠየቅ፥ በዓለምም ከሚገኝ እድፍ ሰውነቱን መጠበቅ ነው።

²⁵and he who did look into the perfect law — that of liberty, and did continue there, this one — not a forgetful hearer becoming, but a doer of work — this one shall be happy in his doing.

²⁶If any one doth think to be religious among you, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, of this one vain [is] the religion;

²⁷religion pure and undefiled with the God and Father is this, to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation — unspotted to keep himself from the world.