Послание Апостола Иакова

James, the brother of the Lord, called the Righteous, was the rector of the church in Jerusalem, and had relations with many Jews and Christians (Acts 12:17; 15:13). This letter is addressed to converts from Judaism. It strictly condemns the vices that were widespread among the depraved environment of the Jerusalemites and that infected the young Christian community. The epistle mentions persecution that ended during the reign of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1), from whom Jacob suffered martyrdom around 63 A.D. Chapter 1. The Joy of a Christian Jacob, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes living in dispersion. Rejoice, rejoice with great joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let the work of patience be completed in you, so that you may be completely perfect and lack nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God, who gives to everyone simply and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask with faith, without any doubt, and whoever doubts is like a wave of the sea, tossed and tossed by the wind. Let such a person not think of receiving anything from the Lord, a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of the humble lot boast in his height, but the rich man through his humility: he too will pass away like a flower on the grass. The sun rose and withered the grass with the heat, and its color faded, and its beauty perished: so does the rich man wither in his ways. Blessed is the man who endures temptation: having been tested, he will receive the crown of life promised by God to those who love Him. Temptations are not from God, but from yourself When temptation comes, no one should say this: “God is tempting me.” God cannot be tempted by any evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone; but every person is tempted, being carried away and enticed by his own lust. And lust conceives and gives birth to sin; sin committed gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift from above comes from the Father of lights; with God there is no change or darkening of the light. He wanted and gave birth to us with the Word of truth, so that we too could become a kind of firstfruits of His creation. Know this, my beloved brethren: let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to become angry. Man's anger does not create God's righteousness. Therefore, putting aside all uncleanness and malice that still remains, meekly receive the word implanted in your hearts, which is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word, and not hearers only: such people deceive themselves. He who listens to the word, but does not do it in practice, is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror; looked at himself, walked away - and forgot what he was like. But whoever delves into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides in it, and not such that he hears and then forgets, but actually fulfills it, he will be blessed in his work. If anyone among you thinks that he is pious in faith, and does not bridle his tongue, but flatters his heart, his faith is vain. Piety that is pure in faith and undefiled before God and the Father consists in looking after widows and orphans and keeping oneself undefiled from the world. Chapter 2. Brotherly love does not distinguish faces My brothers, have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, and do not look at personalities. If a man comes into your congregation with gold rings on his hands and in rich clothes, a poor man also comes in in scanty clothes, and you, looking at the one dressed in a rich dress, will say to him: “this is a good place for you”; and to the poor man you will say, “Stand over there or sit here at my foot,” then don’t you over-judge the difference between people, and your judgment will not come from an unkind thought? Listen, my beloved brothers: has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom promised to those who love Him? And you despised the poor man. Are the rich oppressing you? Are they the ones who are dragging you to court? Are they not the ones who dishonor the good name that is given to you? If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture: “thou shalt love what is sincere. as yourself” (Lev.19), do good; but if you make out faces, you commit sin, and the law exposes you as criminals. Whoever keeps the whole law, but sins in one thing, is already guilty of everything (Deut. 27). Whoever said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” said the same word, “Thou shalt not kill”; So, if you have not committed adultery, but have murdered, you are still a transgressor of the law. Speak and act like this, like people who will be judged by the “law of freedom.” For judgment without mercy will be for those who have not shown mercy. Mercy over judgment is glorified. What good is it, my brothers, when someone says that he has faith, but his works are not seen? Can such faith save him? Brother or sister stands naked, deprived of daily food, - and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and fed,” and does not give them bodily needs, what good will it do them? Likewise, faith, if there are no works with it, is dead in itself. But someone will tell me: you are a man of faith, but I have works; show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith from my works. Do you believe that God is one? You believe rightly, and the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, you vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith worked together with his works, and faith was made perfect by works? And so the word of Scripture was fulfilled: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God” (Gen. 15). You see that a person is justified by works, and not by faith alone. Wasn’t Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the spies and led them out in a different way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without works. My brothers! Not many people become teachers. You know that the more harshly we will be judged - Each and every one of us sins a lot. He who does not sin in word is a perfect man and is able to bridle his whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths so that they obey us, and we control them with our whole body. Look, the ships, how big they are, and how cruel the winds are, - and with a small helm they go where the helmsman wants. Likewise, the tongue is a small member, but how much courage it has! A small spark, but what a huge substance it ignites. And the tongue is fire, and in it is the embellishment of untruth 24 . And so it settles among our members, desecrating the whole body, inflaming the entire circulation of our life, and itself is inflamed by the fires of hell. Every nature of beasts and birds and creeping things and fish of the sea is tamed and tamed by human nature, but none of the people can tame the tongue: it is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we bless God and the Father - and with it we curse people created in the likeness of God. From the same lips comes both the blessing and the oath. It shouldn’t be like this, my beloved brothers. Does both sweet and bitter water flow from the same source? A fig tree cannot, my brothers, bear raspberries, or a vine bear figs; So one source cannot pour out both salty and sweet water. What is true wisdom? Who is considered wise and reasonable among you? Let him show this in his deeds by living a good life in meekness and true wisdom. But if bitter envy and jealousy are in your hearts, then do not boast and lie about the truth. This is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly, animal, demonic. Where there is envy and jealousy, there is disorder and every evil deed. And the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peaceful, meek, obedient to good advice, rich in mercy and good fruits. impartial and unhypocritical. The fruit of truth is sown in the world by those who make peace in their deeds. Chapter 4. About strife and enmity Where does your enmity and strife come from? Is it not from here, from your lusts that war in your members? You desire, but you do not have; you kill and envy - and cannot achieve; you bicker and fight, and you do not receive what you do not ask; you ask and do not receive, because you ask not for good, but so that everything can be squandered on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? And whoever wants to be a friend to the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think that Scripture says in vain: “Does the spirit that dwells in us desire envy?” (Gen.6. Jer.12). No! It was given to us to increase grace. About this it is said: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Job.22. Proverbs.3). Obey God, and defend yourself from the devil, who will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you; Cleanse your hands, you sinners; straighten your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, weep and howl; Let your laughter turn to weeping, and your joy to mourning. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not slander one another, brothers; whoever speaks evil or condemns his brother speaks evil of the law and condemns the law; and if you condemn the law, then you become not an executor, but a judge of the law. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge - He can save and destroy; and who are you that you judge your neighbor? Now listen to you, those who say: “today or tomorrow we will go to somewhere in the city, we will live there for one year, we will begin to trade, we will make a profit.” Yes, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow: what is your life? Steam that appeared for a short time and then disappeared. But instead they would say: “If God pleases, and we are alive, we will do this or that.” But you, in your arrogance, only boast. All such praise is evil. So, if anyone knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin for him. Chapter 5. Woe to the oppressors Listen, you rich ones: weep and howl for the fierce sorrows that are coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and this rust will be a testimony against you and will eat up your flesh like fire: this is the treasure you have stored up for yourself for the last days. Behold, the wages which you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cry out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived luxuriously on earth and enjoyed; feed your hearts as on the day of slaughter. They condemned and killed the righteous - he did not resist you. Therefore, brethren, be patient until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and for it he endures for a long time until he receives the early and late rain. Be patient, too, and strengthen your hearts; The coming of the Lord is approaching. Do not complain, brothers, against each other, so that condemnation does not come to you: behold, the Judge is already standing at the door. Set yourself, brothers, as an example of suffering and long-suffering, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Here, we please those who have endured so much patience. Have you heard about Job’s patience and seen the end of it, how merciful and generous the Lord is. First of all, my brothers, do not swear by heaven or earth or by any other oath; but let it be with you: “hey-hey” and “no-no”, so that you do not fall under condemnation. Is any of you suffering? let him pray. Whose heart is joyful? let him sing psalms. Is anyone sick? let him call the elders of the church, and let them perform a prayer over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up, and whatever sins he has committed will be forgiven him. – And you confess your sins to each other and pray for each other in order to be healed: the fervent prayer of the righteous can accomplish much. Elijah was a man like us, and he prayed with prayer that there would be no rain: and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months. And then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. Brethren, if any of you wanders from the truth, and someone converts him, let him know that he who converts a sinner from the wrong path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. According to another reading: there is a whole world of untruth in it. The word κόσμος means peace and beauty. You might be interested in: