Letter of James & Paul’s Letters to Thessalonians

Letter of James & Paul’s Letters to Thessalonians - 

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James Chapter 1

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.

Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;

Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;

But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.

Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.

Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;

For there is a division in his mind, and he is uncertain in all his ways.

But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;

But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end.

For when the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass gets dry and the grace of its form is gone with the falling flower; so the man of wealth comes to nothing in his ways.

There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God’s approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.

Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:

But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.

Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.

Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers.

Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.

Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.

You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;

For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.

For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.

But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.

Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass;

For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.

But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man’s religion is of no value.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

Chapter 2

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.

Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;

Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;

But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.

Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.

Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;

For there is a division in his mind, and he is uncertain in all his ways.

But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;

But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end.

For when the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass gets dry and the grace of its form is gone with the falling flower; so the man of wealth comes to nothing in his ways.

There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God’s approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.

Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:

But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.

Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.

Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers.

Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.

Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.

You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;

For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.

For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.

But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.

Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass;

For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.

But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man’s religion is of no value.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

Chapter 3

Do not all be teachers, my brothers, because we teachers will be judged more hardly than others.

For we all go wrong in a number of things. If a man never makes a slip in his talk, then he is a complete man and able to keep all his body in control.

Now if we put bits of iron into horses’ mouths so that they may be guided by us, we have complete control of their bodies.

And again ships, though they are so great and are moved by violent winds, are turned by a very small guiding-blade, at the impulse of the man who is using it.

Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire!

And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell.

For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority;

But the tongue may not be controlled by man; it is an unresting evil, it is full of the poison of death.

With it we give praise to our Lord and Father; and with it we put a curse on men who are made in God’s image.

Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, it is not right for these things to be so.

Does the fountain send from the same outlet sweet and bitter water?

Is a fig-tree able to give us olives, my brothers, or do we get figs from a vine, or sweet water from the salt sea?

Who has wisdom and good sense among you? let him make his works clear by a life of gentle wisdom.

But if you have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true.

This wisdom is not from heaven, but is of the earth and the flesh and the Evil One.

For where envy is, and the desire to get the better of others, there is no order, but every sort of evil-doing.

But the wisdom which is from heaven is first holy, then gentle, readily giving way in argument, full of peace and mercy and good works, not doubting, not seeming other than it is.

And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace for those who make peace.

Chapter 4

What is the cause of wars and fighting among you? is it not in your desires which are at war in your bodies?

You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it.

You make your request but you do not get it, because your request has been wrongly made, desiring the thing only so that you may make use of it for your pleasure.

O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God’s friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.

Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us?

But he gives more grace. So that the Writings say, God is against the men of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low before him.

For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Make your hands clean, you evil-doers; put away deceit from your hearts, you false in mind.

Be troubled, with sorrow and weeping; let your laughing be turned to sorrow and your joy to grief.

Make yourselves low in the eyes of the Lord and you will be lifted up by him.

Do not say evil against one another, my brothers. He who says evil against his brother or makes himself his brother’s judge, says evil against the law and is judging the law: and in judging the law you become, not a doer of the law but a judge.

There is only one judge and law-giver, even he who has the power of salvation and of destruction; but who are you to be your neighbour’s judge?

How foolish it is to say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:

When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone.

But the right thing to say would be, If it is the Lord’s pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.

But now you go on glorying in your pride: and all such glorying is evil.

The man who has knowledge of how to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Chapter 5

Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you.

Your wealth is unclean and insects have made holes in your clothing.

Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days.

See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.

You have been living delicately on earth and have taken your pleasure; you have made your hearts fat for a day of destruction.

You have given your decision against the upright man and have put him to death. He puts up no fight against you.

Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.

Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near.

Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.

Take as an example of pain nobly undergone and of strength in trouble, the prophets who gave to men the words of the Lord.

We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.

But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.

Is anyone among you in trouble? let him say prayers. Is anyone glad? let him make a song of praise.

Is anyone among you ill? let him send for the rulers of the church; and let them say prayers over him, putting oil on him in the name of the Lord.

And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness.

So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.

Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months.

And he made another prayer, and the heaven sent down rain and the earth gave her fruit.

My brothers, if one of you has gone out of the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error,

Be certain that he through whom a sinner has been turned from the error of his way, keeps a soul from death and is the cause of forgiveness for sins without number.

1^st Thessalonians

Chapter 1

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

We give praise to God at all times for you, keeping you in memory in our prayers;

Having ever in mind your work of faith and acts of love and the strength of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father;

Being conscious, my brothers, dear to God, that you have been marked out by God’s purpose;

Because our good news came to you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, so that you were completely certain of it; even as you saw what our behaviour to you was like from our love to you.

And you took us and the Lord as your example, after the word had come to you in much trouble, with joy in the Holy Spirit;

So that you became an example to all those who have faith in Christ in Macedonia and Achaia.

For not only was the word of the Lord sounding out from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God is made clear; so that we have no need to say anything.

For they themselves give the news of how we came among you; and how you were turned from images to God, to the worship of a true and living God,

Waiting for his Son from heaven, who came back from the dead, even Jesus, our Saviour from the wrath to come.

Chapter 2

For you yourselves, brothers, are conscious that our coming among you was not without effect:

But after we had first undergone much pain and been cruelly attacked as you saw, at Philippi, by the help of God we gave you the good news without fear, though everything was against us.

For our witness does not come from error or from an unclean heart or from deceit:

But even as the good news was given to us by the approval of God, so we give it out; not as pleasing men, but God by whom our hearts are tested.

For it is common knowledge among you that we never made use of smooth-sounding false words, and God is witness that at no time were we secretly desiring profit for ourselves,

Or looking for glory from men, from you or from others, when we might have made ourselves a care to you as Apostles of Christ.

But we were gentle among you, like a woman caring for her little ones:

Even so, being full of loving desire for you, we took delight in giving you not only God’s good news, but even our lives, because you were dear to us.

For you have the memory, my brothers, of our trouble and care; how, working night and day, so that we might not be a trouble to any of you, we gave you the good news of God.

You are witnesses, with God, how holy and upright and free from all evil was our way of life among you who have faith;

Even as you saw how, like a father with his children, we were teaching and comforting you all, and giving witness,

So that your lives might be pleasing to God, who has given you a part in his kingdom and his glory.

And for this cause we still give praise to God, that, when the word came to your ears through us, you took it, not as the word of man, but, as it truly is, the word of God, which has living power in you who have faith.

For you, my brothers, took as your examples the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; because you underwent the same things from your countrymen as they did from the Jews;

Who put to death the Lord Jesus and the prophets, violently driving us out; who are unpleasing to God and against all men;

Who, to make the measure of their sins complete, kept us from giving the word of salvation to the Gentiles: but the wrath of God is about to come on them in the fullest degree.

But we, my brothers, being away from you for a short time, in body but not in heart, had all the more desire to see your face;

For which reason we made attempts to come to you, even I, Paul, once and again; but Satan kept us from coming.

For what is our hope or joy or crown of glory? Are not even you, before our Lord Jesus, at his coming?

For you are our glory and our joy.

Chapter 3

At last our desire to have news of you was so strong that, while we ourselves were waiting at Athens,

We sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the good news of Christ, to give you strength and comfort in your faith;

So that no man might be moved by these troubles; because you see that these things are part of God’s purpose for us.

And when we were with you, we said to you that trouble was before us; and so it came about, as you see.

For this reason, when I was no longer able to keep quiet, I sent to get news of your faith, fearing that you might be tested by the Evil One and that our work might come to nothing.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has given us good news of your faith and love, and that you have happy memories of us, desiring greatly to see us, even as we do to see you;

For this cause, brothers, in all our trouble and grief we were comforted about you because of your faith;

For it is life to us if you keep your faith in the Lord unchanged.

For how great is the praise which we give to God for you, and how great the joy with which we are glad because of you before our God;

Night and day requesting God again and again that we may see your face and make your faith complete.

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus make a way for us to come to you;

And the Lord give you increase of love in fullest measure to one another and to all men, even as our love to you;

So that your hearts may be strong and free from all sin before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Chapter 4

And last of all, the prayer which we make to you from our heart and in the name of the Lord Jesus, is this: that as we made clear to you what sort of behaviour is pleasing to God, as in fact you are doing now, so you will go on in these ways, but more and more.

Because you have in mind the orders we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

For the purpose of God for you is this: that you may be holy, and may keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh;

So that every one of you may keep his body holy and in honour;

Not in the passion of evil desires, like the Gentiles, who have no knowledge of God;

And that no man may make attempts to get the better of his brother in business: for the Lord is the judge in all these things, as we said to you before and gave witness.

Because it is God’s purpose that our way of life may be not unclean but holy.

Whoever, then, goes against this word, goes against not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

But about loving the brothers, there is no need for me to say anything to you in this letter: for you have the teaching of God that love for one another is right and necessary;

And, truly, you are lovers of all the brothers in Macedonia; but it is our desire that your love may be increased still more;

And that you may take pride in being quiet and doing your business, working with your hands as we gave you orders;

That you may be respected by those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.

But it is our desire, brothers, that you may be certain about those who are sleeping; so that you may have no need for sorrow, as others have who are without hope.

For if we have faith that Jesus underwent death and came back again, even so those who are sleeping will come again with him by God’s power.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are still living at the coming of the Lord, will not go before those who are sleeping.

Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and the dead in Christ will come to life first;

Then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to see the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord.

So then, give comfort to one another with these words.

Chapter 5

But about the times and their order, my brothers, there is no need for me to say anything to you.

For you yourselves have the knowledge that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

When they say, There is peace and no danger, then sudden destruction will come on them, as birth-pains on a woman with child; and they will not be able to get away from it.

But you, my brothers, are not in the dark, for that day to overtake you like a thief:

For you are all sons of light and of the day: we are not of the night or of the dark.

So then, let us not take our rest as the others do, but let us be self-controlled and awake.

For those who are sleeping do so in the night; and those who are the worse for drink are so in the night;

But let us, who are of the day, be serious, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and on our heads, the hope of salvation.

For God’s purpose for us is not wrath, but salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Who was put to death for us, so that, awake or sleeping, we may have a part in his life.

So then, go on comforting and building up one another, as you have been doing.

But we make this request to you, my brothers: give attention to those who are working among you, who are over you in the Lord to keep order among you;

And have a high opinion of them in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

And our desire is that you will keep control over those whose lives are not well ordered, giving comfort to the feeble-hearted, supporting those with little strength, and putting up with much from all.

Let no one give evil for evil; but ever go after what is good, for one another and for all.

Have joy at all times.

Keep on with your prayers.

In everything give praise: for this is the purpose of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not put out the light of the Spirit;

Do not make little of the words of the prophets;

Let all things be tested; keep to what is good;

Keep from every form of evil.

And may the God of peace himself make you holy in every way; and may your spirit and soul and body be free from all sin at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God, by whom you have been marked out in his purpose, is unchanging and will make it complete.

Brothers, keep us in mind in your prayers.

Give all the brothers a holy kiss.

I give orders in the name of the Lord that all the brothers are to be present at the reading of this letter.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

2^nd Thessalonians

Chapter 1

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is right for us to give praise to God at all times for you, brothers, because of the great increase of your faith, and the wealth of your love for one another;

So that we ourselves take pride in you in the churches of God for your untroubled mind and your faith in all the troubles and sorrows which you are going through;

Which is a clear sign of the decision which God in his righteousness has made; to give you a part in his kingdom, for which you have undergone this pain;

For it is an act of righteousness on God’s part to give trouble as their reward to those who are troubling you,

And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with the angels of his power in flames of fire,

To give punishment to those who have no knowledge of God, and to those who do not give ear to the good news of our Lord Jesus:

Whose reward will be eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,

At his coming, when he will have glory in his saints, and will be a cause of wonder in all those who had faith (because our witness among you had effect) in that day.

For this reason, you are ever in our prayers, that you may seem to our God such as may have a part in his purpose and that by his power he will make all his good purpose, and the work of faith, complete;

So that glory may be given to the name of our Lord Jesus through you, and you may have glory in him, by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2

Now as to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our meeting with him, it is our desire, my brothers,

That you may not be moved in mind or troubled by a spirit, or by a word, or by a letter as from us, with the suggestion that the day of the Lord is even now come;

Give no belief to false words: because there will first be a falling away from the faith, and the revelation of the man of sin, the son of destruction,

Who puts himself against all authority, lifting himself up over all which is named God or is given worship; so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, putting himself forward as God.

Have you no memory of what I said when I was with you, giving you word of these things?

And now it is clear to you what is keeping back his revelation till the time comes for him to be seen.

For the secret of evil is even now at work: but there is one who is keeping back the evil till he is taken out of the way.

And then will come the revelation of that evil one, whom the Lord Jesus will put to death with the breath of his mouth, and give to destruction by the revelation of his coming;

Even the one whose coming is marked by the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

And with every deceit of wrongdoing among those whose fate is destruction; because they were quite without that love of the true faith by which they might have salvation.

And for this cause, God will give them up to the power of deceit and they will put their faith in what is false:

So that they all may be judged, who had no faith in what is true, but took pleasure in evil.

But it is right for us to give praise to God at all times for you, brothers, loved by the Lord, because it was the purpose of God from the first that you might have salvation, being made holy by the Spirit and by faith in what is true:

And in this purpose he gave you a part through the good news of which we were the preachers, even that you might have part in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, brothers, be strong in purpose, and keep the teaching which has been given to you by word or by letter from us.

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who had love for us and has given us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,

Give you comfort and strength in every good work and word.

Chapter 3

For the rest, my brothers, let there be prayer for us that the word of the Lord may go forward with increasing glory, even as it does with you;

And that we may be made free from foolish and evil men; for not all have faith.

But the Lord is true, who will give you strength and keep you safe from evil.

And we have faith in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things about which we give you orders.

And may your hearts be guided by the Lord into the love of God and quiet waiting for Christ.

Now we give you orders, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from all those whose behaviour is not well ordered and in harmony with the teaching which they had from us.

For you yourselves are used to taking us as your example, because our life among you was ruled by order,

And we did not take food from any man for nothing, but were working hard night and day not to be a trouble to any of you:

Not because we have not the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, so that you might do the same.

For even when we were with you we gave you orders, saying, If any man does no work, let him not have food.

For it has come to our ears that there are some among you whose behaviour is uncontrolled, who do no work at all, but are over-interested in the business of others.

Now to such we give orders and make request in the Lord Jesus, that, working quietly, they get their living.

And you, my brothers, do not get tired of well-doing.

And if any man does not give attention to what we have said in this letter, take note of that man, and keep away from him, so that he may be shamed.

Have no feeling of hate for him, but take him in hand seriously as a brother.

Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with you all.

These words of love to you at the end are in my writing, Paul’s writing, and this is the mark of every letter from me.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.