Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, ¹  or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.

Such ¹  wisdom does not come ²  from above but is earthly, natural, ³  demonic.

Grieve, mourn, ¹  and weep. Turn your laughter ²  into mourning and your joy into despair.

You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ¹ 

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises.

So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly ¹  welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ¹  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ²  save him? ³ 

And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way?

So too the tongue is a small part of the body, ¹  yet it has great pretensions. ²  Think ³  how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze.

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

But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” ¹ 

But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor? ¹ 

Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint ¹  him with oil in the name of the Lord.

So be patient, brothers and sisters, ¹  until the Lord’s return. ²  Think of how the farmer waits ³  for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient ⁴  for it until it receives the early and late rains.

And above all, my brothers and sisters, ¹  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.

So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. ¹ 

Then ¹  he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest.

Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. ¹  He who speaks against a fellow believer ²  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. ³ 

Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? ¹  So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.

Elijah was a human being ¹  like us, and he prayed earnestly ²  that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!