James 1:11

1:11 For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. ¹  So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.

James 1:25

1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ²  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ³  will be blessed in what he does. ⁴ 

James 2:3

2:3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, ⁵  “You sit here in a good place,” ⁶  and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? ⁷ 

James 3:6

3:6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents ⁸  the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It ⁹  pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell. ¹⁰ 

James 4:11

4:11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. ¹¹  He who speaks against a fellow believer ¹²  or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. ¹³ 

James 5:7

Patience in Suffering

5:7 So be patient, brothers and sisters, ¹⁴  until the Lord’s return. ¹⁵  Think of how the farmer waits ¹⁶  for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient ¹⁷  for it until it receives the early and late rains.

James 5:12

5:12 And above all, my brothers and sisters, ¹⁸  do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.

[1:11]  ¹ tn Or “perishes,” “is destroyed.”

[1:25]  ² tn Grk “continues.”

[1:25]  ³ tn Grk “this one.”

[1:25]  ⁴ tn Grk “in his doing.”

[2:3]  ³ tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Or “sit here, please.”

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “makes itself,” “is made.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:6]  ⁶ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[4:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:11]  ⁶ tn See note on the word “believer” in 1:9.

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “a judge.”

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers”; this phrase occurs again three times in the paragraph. See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Or “advent”; or “coming” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “Behold! The farmer waits.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn Grk “being patient.”

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.