The pistle of S. IamesThe fyrst Chapter.
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[Untitled Possibly Huge Image] Iames the serua

t of God and of the Lorde Iesus Christ / sendeth gretinge to þ
e .xii. trybes which are scattered here and there.

My brethren / count it excedynge ioye when ye faule into divers t

ptacions / for as moche as ye knowe how that the tryinge of youre fayth bringeth pacience: and let pacience have her parfect worke / that ye maye be parfecte and sounde /
1.A lackinge nothinge.
Yf eny of you lacke wysdome / let him axe of God which geveth to all men indifferentlie / and casteth no man in the teth: and it shal be geven him. 2.ABut let him axe in fayth & waver not. For he that douteth is lyke the waves of the see / tost of the wynde and caried with violence. Nether let that man thinke that he shall receave eny thinge of the Lorde.
3.AA waveringe mynded man is vnstable in all his wayes.
B
Let the brother of lowe degre reioyce in þ
t he is exalted / & the ryche in that he is made lowe. For ev

as þ
e flower of the grasse / shall he vanysshe awaye. The sonne ryseth with heate / & the grasse wydereth / & his flower falleth awaye / and the beautie of the fassion of it perissheth: even so shall the ryche man perisshe with his aboundance.
Happy is the man that endureth in temptacion / for when he is tryed he shall receave the croune of lyfe / which the Lorde hath promysed to them that love him.
Let no man saye when he is t
pted that he is tempted of God. For God t
pteth not vnto evyll / nether t
pteth he anie m
. But every m
is t
pted / drawne awaye / & entysed of his awne concupisc
ce. Then when lust hath c
ceaved / she bringeth forth synne / & synne wh
it is fynisshed bringeth forthe deeth.
Erre not my deare brethren.
Every good gyfte / & every parfayt gyft / is from above and commeth doune fr
the father of light / with whom is no variablenes / nether is he chaunged vnto darcknes.
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Of his awne will begat he vs with the worde of lyfe / that we shuld be the fyrst frutes of his creatures.
Wherfore deare brethren / let every man be swyfte to heare / slowe to speake / and slowe to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not that which is ryghteous before God.
Wherfore laye a parte all fylthynes / all superfluite
of maliciousnes / and receave with meknes the worde þ
t is grafted in you / which is able to save youre soules


. And se that ye be doars of the worde & not hearers only / deceavinge youre awne selves with sophistrie For yf eny heare the worde / and do it not /
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he is lyke vnto a man that beholdeth his bodyly face in a glasse. For assone as he hath loked on him silfe / he goeth his waye / & forgetteth immediatlie what his fassion was. But who so loketh in the parfaict lawe of libertie / and continueth ther in (yf he be not a forgetfull hearer / but a doar of þ
e worke) the same shall be happie in his dede.
Yf eny man amonge you seme devoute / and refrayne not his tonge: but deceave his awne herte / this mannes devocion is in vayne Pure devocion and vndefiled before God the father / is this: to vysit the frendlesse and widdowes in their adversite / 4.D and to kepe him silfe vnspotted of the worlde.
The .ii. Chapter.

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Brethren have not the fayth of oure lorde Iesus Christ the lorde of glory in respecte of persons. Yf ther come into youre company a man with a golden rynge and in goodly aparell and ther come in also a poore man in vyle rayment / and ye have a respecte to him that weareth the gaye clothynge and saye vnto him. Sit thou here in a good place: and saye vnto the poore / stonde thou there or sit here vnder my fotestole: are ye not parciall in youre selves / and have iudged after
evyll thoughtes?
Harken my deare beloved brethren. Hath not God chosen the poore of this worlde / which are ryche in fayth / and heyres of the kyngdom which he promysed to them that love him? But ye have despised the poore.
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Are not the rych they which opresse you: and they which drawe you before iudges? Do not they speake evyll of that good name after which ye be named.
Yf ye fulfill the royall lawe accordynge to the scripture which sayth. Thou shallt love thyne neghbour as thy silfe / ye do well. But yf ye regarde one person more then another / ye commit synne / and are rebuked of the lawe as transgressours. Whosoever shall kepe the whole lawe / and yet fayle in one poynt / he is gyltie in all. For he that sayd. Thou shallt not commit adulterie / sayed also: thou shallt not kyll. Though thou do none adulterie / yet yf thou kill / thou arte a transgresser of the lawe. So speake ye / and so do as they that shalbe iudged by the 5.B lawe of libertie. For ther shalbe iudgement merciles to him that sheweth no mercy / and mercy reioyseth agaynst iudgement:
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What a vayleth it my brethren / though a man saye he hath sayth / when he hath no dedes? Can fayth save him? If a brother or a sister be naked or destitute of dayly fode / and one of you saye vnto them: Departe in peace / God sende you warmnes & fode: not withstondinge ye geve th

not tho thyng[es] which are
nedfull to the body: what helpeth it th

? Ev

so fayth / yf it have no dedes / is deed in it selfe.
Ye & a man myght saye: Thou hast fayth / and I have dedes: Shewe me thy fayth by thy dedes: and I will shewe the my fayth by my dedes. Belevest thou þt ther is one God? Thou doest well. The devyls also beleve and tremble.
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Wilt thou vnderstonde o thou vayne man / that fayth with out dedes is deed? Was not Abrah

oure father iustified thorow workes when he offered Isaac his sonne vp

the aultre? Thou seist how that fayth wrought with his dedes / and through the dedes was the fayth made parfect: & þ
e scripture was fulfilled which sayth: Abraham beleved God / & it was reputed vnto him for rightewesnes: & he was called the fr

de of God.

Ye se then how that of dedes a man is iustified / & not of fayth only. Lyke wyse also was not Raab the harlot iustifyed thorow workes / when she receaved the messengers / & sent th

out another waye? For as the body / with oute the sprete is deed /
6.D ev

so fayth with out dedes is deed
The .iii. Chapter.
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My brethren / be not every m

a
7.A master / remembringe how that we shall receave the more damnacion: for in many thinges we synne all. Yf a man synne not in worde / the same is a parfecte m

/ & able to tame all the body. Beholde we put bittes into þ
e horses mouthes that they shuld obeye vs / & we turne aboute all the body. Beholde
also the shyppes / which though they be so gret / and are dryven of fearce windes / yet are they turned about with a very smale helme / whither soever the violence of the governer wyll. Even so the tonge is a lyttell member / and bosteth great thinges.
Beholde how gret a thinge a lyttell fyre kyndleth / & the tonge is fyre / and a worlde of wyckednes. So is the tonge set amonge oure members / that it defileth the whole body / & setteth a fyre all that we have of nature / and is it selfe set a fyre even of hell.
B
All the natures of beastes / & of byrdes / and of serpentes / and thinges of þ
e see / are meked & tamed of the nature of man. But the tonge can no man tame. Yt is an vntuely evyll full of deedly poyson. Therwith blesse we God the father / and therwith cursse we m

which are made after the similitude of God. Out of one mouth proceadeth blessynge and cursynge. My brethren these thinges ought not so to be. Doth a fountayne sende forth at one place swete water and bytter also? Can the fygge tree / my Brethren / beare olive beries: other a vyne beare fygges? So can no fountayne geve bothe salt water and fresshe also. If eny man be wyse and endued with learnynge amonge you let him shewe the workes of his
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good conversaci

in meknes that ys coupled with
8.C wisdome.
But Yf ye have bitter envyinge and stryfe in youre hertes / reioyce not: nether be lyars agaynst the trueth. This wisdome desc
deth
not from a boue: but is erthy / and
9.C naturall / and divelisshe. For where envyinge & stryfe is /
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there is stablenes & all m

ner of evyll workes. But the wisdom that is from above / is fyrst pure / then peasable / gentle / and easy to be entreated / full of mercy and good frutes / without iudgynge / and without simulaci

: yee /
10.A and the frute of rightewesnes is sowen in peace / of them that mayntene peace.
The .iiii. Chapter.
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11.AFrom whence commeth warre & fighttynge amonge you: come they not here hence? even of youre volupteousnes that rayne in youre members. Ye lust / and have not.
12.AYe envie & have indignacion / and cannot obtayne. Ye fight and warre & have not / because ye axe not. Ye axe and receave not / because ye axe a mysse:
13.A even to consume it apon youre volupteousnes. Ye advouterars / & wemen that breke matrimonie: knowe ye not how þ
t the fr

shippe of þ
e worlde is ennimite to god warde? Whosoever wilbe a frende of the worlde / is made the enemie of god. Ether do ye thinke that the scripture sayth in vayne The
14.A sprite that dwelleth in you /
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lusteth ev

contrary to envie: but geveth more grace.
Submit youre selves to god / and resist the devyll / and he will flye from you. Drawe nye to god & he will drawe nye to you. Clense youre hondes ye synners / and pourdge youre hertes ye waverynge mynded. Suffre afflicci
s: sorowe ye and wepe. Let youre laughter be turned to mornynge / and youre ioye to hevynes.
Cast doune youre selves before the lorde / and he shall lift you vp. Backbyte not one another / brethren. He that
15.B backbyteh hys brother / and he that iudgeth his brother / backbyteth the lawe / and iudgeth the lawe. But and yf thou iudge the lawe / thou art not an observer of þ
e lawe: but a iudge. Ther is one lawe gever /
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which is able to save and to distroye. What art thou that iudgest another man?
Go to now ye that saye: to daye & to morow let vs go into soche a citie and continue there a yeare & bye and sell / and wynne: and yet can not tell what shall happen to morowe. For what thynge is youre lyfe? It is even a vapoure that apereth for a lytell tyme / and th
vanyssheth awaye: For that ye ought to saye: yf the lorde will and yf we live / let vs do this or that. But nowe ye reioyce in youre bostinges. All soche reioysynge is evyll. Therfore to him that knoweth how to do good / and doth it not / to him it is synne. 16.D
The .v. Chapter.
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Goo to now ye ryche men. Wepe / and howle on youre wretchednes that shall come apon you. Youre ryches is corrupte / youre garmentes are motheaten. Youre golde and youre silver are cankred / and the rust of them shalbe a witnes vnto you / & shall eate youre flesshe / as it were fyre. Ye have heaped treasure togedder in youre last dayes: Beholde the hyre of þ
e labourers which have reped doune youre feldes (which hyer is of you kept backe by fraude) cryeth: & þ
e cryes of
them which have reped / are entred into the eares of the lorde Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the erth and in wantannes. Ye have norysshed youre hert[es] / as in a daye of
17.A slaughter. Ye have condempned and have killed the iust / and he hath not resisted you.
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Be pacient therfore brethren / vnto the commynge of the lorde. Beholde the husbande man wayteth for the precious frute of the erth / and hath longe pacience ther vppon / vntill he receave (the erly and the latter rayne.) Be ye also pacient therfore / and settle youre hertes / for þ
e commynge of the lorde draweth nye.
18.BGrodge not one agaynst another brethr

/ lest ye be d

pned. Beholde the iudge stondeth before the dore. Take (my brethren) the prophettes for an ensample of sufferynge adversitie / and of longe pacience / which spake in the name of the lorde.

Beholde we counte them happy which endure. Ye have hearde of the pacience of Iob / & have knowen what ende the lorde made. For the lorde is very pitifull and mercifull.
But above all thynges my brethr
/ sweare not / nether by heven / nether by erth / nether by eny other othe.
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Let youre
19.C ye be ye / and youre maye naye: lest ye faule into ypocrecy. Yf eny of you be evyll vexed / let him praye. Yf eny of you be mery / let him singe Psalmes. Yf eny be defeated amonge you / let him call for the elders of the congregacion / and let th

praye over him / and anoynte him with oyle in the name of the lorde: and the prayer of fayth
shall save the sicke / and the lorde shall rayse him vp: and yf he have committed synnes / they shalbe forgeuen him.
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knowledge youre fautes one to another: & praye one for another / that ye maye be healed. The prayer of a ryghteous m

avayleth moche / yf it be ferv

t. Helias was a man mortall even as we are / and he prayed in his prayer / that it myght not rayne:
20.D and it rayned not on the erth by the space of thre yeares and sixe monethes. And he prayed agayne / & the hev

gave rayne & the erth brought forth her frute.
21.DBrethren yf eny of you erre from the trueth and an other convert him / let the same knowe that he which converted the synner fr
goynge a straye out of his waye / shall save a soule fr
deeth / & shall hyde þe multitude of synnes.
The ende of the pistle of Saynct Iames.