Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

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. But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. . . .

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me? Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death, lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes rejoice when I fall. But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation. . . .

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

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. . . .

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I was pushed so hard I was falling, but the LORD helped me.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy. May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon, because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged. Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us mercy. Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt. We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.

We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities; in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger; in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? . . .

Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”

Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. . . .

Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

A Psalm of David, for remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath. For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me. There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly. . . .

Meanwhile, these young officers of the district governors marched out of the city, with the army behind them,

Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And this is what he said: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it. May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it. . . .

Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.

And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”

while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.

For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities; in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated. Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”

When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become like a mirage to me—water that is not there.

You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

Why do you cry out over your wound? Your pain has no cure! Because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins I have done these things to you.

You have said, ‘Woe is me because the LORD has added sorrow to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.’”

Then Job answered: “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die! But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock. The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping. . . .

And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me. They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them. . . .

Then Job replied: “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales. For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder? . . .

Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster. And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light. Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long. He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. . . .

Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall. Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! . . .

and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

“It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’

So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me. If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”

Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!”

Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?

For the LORD will vindicate His people and will have compassion on His servants.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the willows we hung our harps, for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.” How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. . . .

A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me! Many say of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah

Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong. For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it. . . .

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. . . .

A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?

Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo— cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; of slaves and souls of men. . . .

And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.

Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.