James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ¹  is from above, coming down ²  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ³ 

James 1:19

Living Out the Message

1:19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! ⁴  Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.

James 1:23

1:23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone ⁵  who gazes at his own face ⁶  in a mirror.

James 3:7

3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature ⁷  is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. ⁸ 

James 3:14

3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth.

James 4:13-14

4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town ⁹  and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 4:14 You ¹⁰  do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? ¹¹  For you are a puff of smoke ¹²  that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

James 5:9

5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, ¹³  so that you may not be judged. See, the judge stands before the gates! ¹⁴ 

James 5:17

5:17 Elijah was a human being ¹⁵  like us, and he prayed earnestly ¹⁶  that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!

[1:17]  ¹ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ² tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ³ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[1:23]  ⁷ tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[1:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “the face of his beginning [or origin].”

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn Grk (plurals), “every kind of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures.”

[3:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the human species.”

[4:13]  ¹³ tn Or “city.”

[4:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”

[4:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).

[5:9]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[5:9]  ²⁰ sn The term gates is used metaphorically here. The physical referent would be the entrances to the city, but the author uses the term to emphasize the imminence of the judge’s approach.

[5:17]  ²² tn Although it is certainly true that Elijah was a “man,” here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") has been translated as “human being” because the emphasis in context is not on Elijah’s masculine gender, but on the common humanity he shared with the author and the readers.

[5:17]  ²³ tn Grk “he prayed with prayer” (using a Hebrew idiom to show intensity).