Amplified Bible

James 1:13-24 Amplified Bible (AMP)

13. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one.

14. But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).

15. Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death.

16. Do not be misled, my beloved brethren.

17. Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].

18. And it was of His own [free] will that He gave us birth [as sons] by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself].

19. Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry.

20. For man's anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires].

21. So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.

22. But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

23. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror;

24. For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.