WEBVTT

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Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're

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taking this journey together to read the Bible

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in a year. Today's reading is the entire book

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of James, chapters 1 through 5. Chapter 1. James,

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a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

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to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.

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Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when

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you fall into various trials, knowing that the

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testing of your faith produces patience. But

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let patience have its perfect work, that you

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may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

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If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,

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who gives to all liberally and without reproach,

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and it will be given to him. But let him ask

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in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts

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is like a wave of the sea. driven and tossed

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by the wind. For let not that man suppose that

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he will receive anything from the Lord. He is

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a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,

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but the rich in his humiliation, because as a

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flower of the field he will pass away. For no

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sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat

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than it withers the grass. Its flower falls and

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its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich

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man also will fade away in his pursuits. Blessed

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is the man who endures temptation. For when he

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has been approved, he will receive the crown

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of life, which the Lord has promised to those

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who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted,

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I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted

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by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But

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each one is tempted when he is drawn away by

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his own desires and enticed. Then when desire

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has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin,

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when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do

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not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good

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gift and every perfect gift is from above and

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comes down from the Father of lights, with whom

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there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of

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his own will he brought us forth. by the word

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of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits

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of his creatures. So then, my beloved brethren,

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let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,

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slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not

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produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay

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aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness,

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and receive with meekness the implanted word

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which is able to save your souls. But be doers

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of the word, and not hearers only. deceiving

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yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the

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word and not a doer, he is like a man observing

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his natural face in a mirror. For he observes

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himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what

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kind of man he was. But he who looks into the

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perfect law of liberty and continues in it and

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is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work,

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this one will be blessed in what he does. If

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anyone among you thinks he is religious and does

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not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart,

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this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled

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religion My brethren, do not hold the faith of

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our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with

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partiality. For if there should come into your

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assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel,

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and there should also come in a poor man in filthy

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clothes, And you pay attention to the one wearing

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the fine cloth and say to him, You sit here in

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a good place, and say to the poor man, You stand

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there, or sit here at my footstool. Have you

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not shown partiality among yourselves and become

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judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved

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brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this

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world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom

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which he promised to those who love him? But

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you have dishonored the poor men. Do not the

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rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?

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Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which

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you are called? If you really fulfill the royal

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law according to the scripture, you shall love

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your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if

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you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted

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by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall

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keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point,

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he is guilty of all. For he who said do not commit

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adultery, Also said, do not murder. Now if you

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do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you

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have become a transgressor of the law. So speak

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and so do as those who will be judged by the

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law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy

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to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs

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over judgment. What does it profit, my brethren,

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if someone says he has faith, but does not have

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works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister

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is naked and destitute, Of daily food. And one

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of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed

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and filled. But you do not give them the things

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which are needed for the body. What does it profit?

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Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have

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works, is dead. But someone will say, You have

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faith and I have works. Show me your faith without

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your works, and I will show you my faith by my

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works. You believe that there is one God. You

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do well. Even the demons believe and tremble.

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But do you want to know, O foolish man, that

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faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham

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our father justified by works when he offered

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Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith

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was working together with his works, and by works

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faith was made perfect? And the scripture was

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fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God and

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it was accounted to him for righteousness. And

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he was called the friend of God. You see then

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that a man is justified by works and not by faith

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only. Likewise was not Rahab the harlot also

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justified by works when she received the messengers

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and sent them out another way? For as the body

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without the spirit is dead, so faith without

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works is dead also. Chapter 3 My brethren, let

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not many of you become teachers. knowing that

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we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we

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all stumble in many things. If anyone does not

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stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also

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to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits

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in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and

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we turn their whole body. Look also at ships.

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Although they are so large and are driven by

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fierce winds, they are turned by a very small

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rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so, the

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tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

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See how great a forest a little fire kindles,

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and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.

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The tongue is so set among our members that it

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defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the

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course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

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For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile

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and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been

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tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue.

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It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

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With it we bless our God and Father, and with

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it we curse men who have been made in the similitude

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of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing

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and cursing. My brethren, these things ought

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not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh

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water and bitter from the same opening? Can a

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fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine

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bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water

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and fresh. Who is wise and understanding among

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you? Let him show by good conduct that his works

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are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you

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have bitter envy and self -seeking in your hearts,

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do not boast and lie against the truth. This

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wisdom does not descend from heaven, but is earthly,

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sensual, demonic. For where envy and self -seeking

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exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

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But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,

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then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield. full

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of mercy and good fruits, without partiality

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and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness

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is sown in peace by those who make peace. You

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ask and do not receive because you ask amiss,

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that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers

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and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship

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with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore

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wants to be a friend of the world makes himself

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an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture

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says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns

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jealously? But he gives more grace, therefore

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he says, God resists the proud but gives grace

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to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist

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the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near

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to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse

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your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts,

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you double -minded. Lament and mourn and weep.

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Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your

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joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight

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of the Lord and he will lift you up. Do not speak

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evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks

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evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks

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evil of the law and judges the law. But if you

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judge the law, you are not a doer of the law,

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but a judge. There is one lawgiver who is able

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to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge

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another? Come now, you who say today or tomorrow,

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we will go to such and such a city, spend a year

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there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas

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you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For

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what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears

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for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead,

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you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall

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live and do this or that. But now you boast in

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your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore

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to him who knows to do good and does not do it,

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to him it is sin. Your gold and silver are corroded,

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and their corrosion will be a witness against

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you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have

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heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed,

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the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields,

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which you kept bagged by fraud, cry out. And

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the cries of the reapers have reached the ears

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of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the

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earth in pleasure and luxury. You have fattened

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your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have

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condemned, you have murdered the just. He does

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not resist you. Therefore be patient, brethren,

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until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer

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waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting

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patiently for it until it receives the early

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and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish

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your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at

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hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren,

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lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing

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at the door. My brethren, take the prophets who

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spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of

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suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them

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blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance

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of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord,

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that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

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But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either

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by heaven or by earth, or with any other oath,

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but let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest

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you fall into judgment. Is anyone among you suffering?

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Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing

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psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call

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for the elders of the church, and let them pray

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over him, anointing him with oil in the name

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of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save

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the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And

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if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

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Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray

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for one another, that you may be healed. The

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effective fervent prayer of a righteous man.

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Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and

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he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and

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it did not rain on the land for three years and

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six months. And he prayed again, and heaven gave

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rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Brethren,

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if anyone among you wanders from the truth and

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someone turns him back, let him know that he

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who turns a sinner from the error of his way

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will save a soul from death and cover a multitude

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of sins. I hope you enjoyed today's reading as

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much as I did and I look forward to seeing you

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again tomorrow to continue on our journey. God

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bless you and have a great day.