But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.
Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition,
knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.
For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.
The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
. . .
Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.
Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.
But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,
and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:
. . .
But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling.
And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
. . .
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
. . .
Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
. . .
You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.
My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.
“But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Whom are you mocking? At whom do you snarl and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deceit,
who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
. . .
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.
But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.
. . .
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.
He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.
A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions.
to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited.
he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,
and do not give the devil a foothold.
And calling His twelve disciples to Him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness.
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.
But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.
If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church.
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.
You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things that you have heard me say among many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be qualified to teach others as well.
Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.
Likewise, a competitor does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules.
. . .
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made.
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
. . .
And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.
And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.
So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are brothers.
You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.