James 5; 1 Peter 1-3

1Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.

2Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.

3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days.

4Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.

6You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.

7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

8You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

9Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!

10Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

11See 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.

12Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Simply let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall under judgment.

13Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

15And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.

19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,

20consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen

2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

5who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials

7so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

9now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,

11trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

14As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.

15But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

17Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.

18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

20He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.

21Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.

22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

25but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,

5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

7To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

8and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.

12Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,

14or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.

15For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men.

16Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

17Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

18Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but even to those who are unreasonable.

19For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.

20How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

21For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:

22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”

23When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

24He 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.”

25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives

2when they see your pure and reverent demeanor.

3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,

4but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.

5For this is how the holy women of the past adorned themselves. They put their hope in God and were submissive to their husbands,

6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.

7Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

8Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

10For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

11He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

13Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”

15But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect,

16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.

17For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

19in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison

20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.