¹Mimi Yakobo, mtumishi wa Mungu na wa Bwana Yesu Kristo, nawaandikia ninyi, makabila kumi na mawili, yaliyotawanyika ulimwenguni! Salaam!

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.

²Ndugu zangu, muwe na furaha mnapopatwa na majaribu mbalimbali,

²Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;

³kwani mwajua kwamba imani yenu ikisha stahimili, itawapatieni uvumilivu.

³Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.

⁴Muwe na hakika kwamba uvumilivu wenu utawategemeza mpaka mwisho, mpate kuwa wakamilifu na watimilifu, bila kupungukiwa chochote.

⁴And let patience have [its] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

⁵Lakini kama mmoja wenu ametindikiwa hekima, basi, anapaswa kumwomba Mungu ambaye atampatia; kwani Mungu huwapa wote kwa wingi na kwa ukarimu.

⁵But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

⁶Lakini anapaswa kuomba kwa imani bila mashaka yoyote. Mtu aliye na mashaka ni kama mawimbi ya bahari ambayo husukumwa na kutupwatupwa na upepo.

⁶But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

⁷Mtu wa namna hiyo, mwenye nia mbili na asiye na msimamo katika mwenendo wake wote,

⁷For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;

⁸asidhani ya kwamba atapata chochote kile kutoka kwa Bwana.

⁸a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹Ndugu aliye maskini anapaswa kufurahi wakati Mungu anapomkweza,

⁹But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:

¹⁰naye tajiri anapaswa kufurahi anaposhushwa na Mungu. Maana tajiri atatoweka kama ua la porini.

¹⁰and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

¹¹Jua huchomoza na kwa joto lake kali hukausha mimea, nayo maua yake huanguka, na uzuri wake wote huharibika. Vivyo hivyo, tajiri ataangamizwa katika shughuli zake.

¹¹For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass: and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.

¹²Heri mtu anayebaki mwaminifu katika majaribu, kwani akisha stahimili atapewa tuzo la uzima ambalo Mungu aliwaahidia wale wanaompenda.

¹²Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] promised to them that love him.

¹³Kama mtu akijaribiwa, asiseme: "Ninajaribiwa na Mungu." Maana Mungu hawezi kujaribiwa na uovu, wala yeye hamjaribu mtu yeyote.

¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:

¹⁴Lakini mtu hujaribiwa anapovutwa na kunaswa na tamaa zake mbaya.

¹⁴but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

¹⁵Tamaa ikiiva huzaa dhambi; nayo dhambi ikikomaa huzaa kifo.

¹⁵Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.

¹⁶Ndugu zangu wapenzi, msidanganyike!

¹⁶Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.

¹⁷Kila kipaji chema na kila zawadi kamilifu hutoka mbinguni; hutoka kwa Baba, Muumba wa mianga, ambaye habadiliki wala hana alama yoyote ya ugeugeu.

¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.

¹⁸Kwa kupenda kwake mwenyewe alituzaa kwa neno lake la ukweli, ili tuwe namna ya matunda ya kwanza miongoni mwa viumbe vyake.

¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

¹⁹Ndugu zangu wapenzi, kumbukeni jambo hili! Kila mtu na awe mwepesi wa kusikia lakini asiwe mwepesi wa kusema wala mwepesi wa kukasirika.

¹⁹Ye know [this], my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

²⁰Mwenye hasira hawezi kutimiza matakwa ya Mungu yaliyo ya haki.

²⁰for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

²¹Kwa hiyo, tupilieni mbali mwenendo mchafu na tabia zote mbovu; jiwekeni chini ya Mungu na kupokea ule ujumbe uliopandwa mioyoni mwenu, ambao waweza kuziokoa nafsi zenu.

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

²²Msijidanganye wenyewe kwa kusikiliza tu neno lake, bali litekelezeni kwa vitendo.

²²But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.

²³Yeyote anayesikiliza hilo neno lakini halitekelezi, huyo ni kama mtu anayejiangalia sura yake mwenyewe katika kioo.

²³For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:

²⁴Hujiangalia mwenyewe, kisha huenda zake, na mara husahau jinsi alivyo.

²⁴for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

²⁵Lakini mtu anayeangalia kwa makini sheria kamilifu ambayo huwapa watu uhuru, mtu anayeendelea kuizingatia, na si kuisikia tu na kuisahau baadaye, bali anaitekeleza, mtu huyo atabarikiwa katika kila kitu anachofanya.

²⁵But he that looketh into the perfect law, the [law] of liberty, and [so] continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.

²⁶Kama mtu akijiona kuwa ni mtu mwenye dini, lakini hawezi kuutawala ulimi wake, dini yake haifai kitu, na anajidanganya mwenyewe.

²⁶If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain.

²⁷Dini iliyo safi na isiyo na hitilafu mbele ya Mungu Baba ni hii: Kuwasaidia yatima na wajane katika shida zao, na kujilinda mwenyewe usichafuliwe na ulimwengu huu.

²⁷Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep oneself unspotted from the world.