How to Live for Jesus
An EasyEnglish Bible text with comments (1200 word vocabulary) on the letter of James
Cynthia Green, Ian Mackervoy, Shirley Chapman & Sue Hunter
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A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
James wrote his letter to tell all Christians what they should or should not do. It was in the Greek language. It is different from Paul’s letters. It does not tell people what they must believe. He did not write it to tell them how to become Christians. James is writing to Christians. They know that Jesus died for them. He is writing to help them to live for Jesus. He is telling them how to become better Christians. After he wrote his letter, he sent it to every Christian church. It is important to the church today. James was the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was also the leader of the church in Jerusalem (see Acts 12:17 and Acts 15:13).
v1 This letter is from James, who is a servant of God and of the *Lord Jesus Christ. I say ”hello” to the 12 *tribes of the *Jews, who live in many parts of the world.
v2 My Christian brothers, be very happy when you have all kinds of *tests. v3 As you continue to fight these troubles you know that your *faith will grow stronger. v4 Keep on being strong for the fight. Then you will grow up to be *mature and to need nothing. v5 If any of you need *wisdom, ask God for it. He is ready to give to everyone. And he never says that it is wrong to ask. God will give you all that you need. v6 When you ask, you must believe that God will answer. The person who is not sure if God will answer is like water in the sea. The wind blows it this way and that way. v7‑8 A person like that never knows what to do. He is confused. He does not know what to think. He should not think that he will get anything from the *Lord.
James is the brother of Jesus, but he describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. Christians are to be servants too. In those days, servants were not free. Their masters owned them. They had to do everything their masters wanted. Some masters were bad and some were good. Christians are servants of God, who is the best of masters. We should want to help our brothers and sisters. Then they should know God and to serve him better.
In the Greek language verse 1 talks about ‘the 12 *tribes of Israel’. James may have been writing to Christians of all countries.
v9 Let the poor brother be *pleased, because God is going to make him great. v10 And let the rich brother be *pleased that God is going to make him small. After all, he will die like a wild flower. v11 The sun rises and hot winds dry the wild flowers. They fall and die and lose their *beauty. In the same way, while the rich man is busy, he will fall and die like a wild flower.
v12 God *blesses the person whose *faith does not fail. His *faith will not fail when troubles come. After he has won the fight, God will give him the gift that he promised. This is the life that God will give to all people who love him. v13 When trouble comes to *tempt us, do not say that it comes from God. Nothing bad can *tempt God and God will not *tempt anyone. v14 When we want to do wrong things, it is our own thoughts that *tempt us. We want what is bad, and this leads us to do wrong things. v15 Sometimes we do the bad things that we wanted to do. When we do this, we *sin. The end result of *sin is death.
v16 Do not make a mistake, my *dear brothers. v17 All good and *beautiful gifts come to us from God. He is the best Father. He is like a strong light sending away all shadows. He does not change. v18 He chose to make us his children by giving us his true word. We are to be like the first part of his harvest.
It is not always easy to be a Christian. It is not easy to *please God in all the things that we do. Life is sometimes very difficult. Sometimes we are sick, or in pain, or in trouble. Sometimes other people hurt us because we are Christians. God does not send these troubles to us. But God loves us very much. He can use these troubles to help us to grow. Even pain can bring us near to God. If we ask him for help, he will hear us. He will help us to understand more. When life is hard, we must not think that God has made it hard. We must *trust him to use hard things to make us stronger.
Verse 18 Christian believers are like God’s harvest.
v19 Understand this, my *dear brothers. We must all be careful to listen. We should only speak to say good things. We should not get angry easily. v20 After all, when a man is angry, he does not do what God says is right. v21 So, stop doing and saying *evil things. God has put his word in your hearts, and it can keep you safe. So, accept what it says.
v22 But do not just listen to the word of God. Do what it says too. If you do not, you will be making a mistake. v23 You will be like a man who sees his face in a mirror. v24 As soon as this man goes away, he forgets what he is like. v25 But the person who keeps looking into the good *law of God will be free. That is, if he obeys it. He will not forget what he hears but will do what it says. Then God will *bless him in what he does.
v26 If we think that we are doing the things that *please God, we must not speak bad words. If we do, we are not right. We do not *please God. And what we think is of no use. v27 Things that really *please God our Father are good. For example, we should help children that have no parents. We should help women whose husbands have died. And we must keep away from all that is wrong in the world.
All God’s servants must hear and remember his words. If we do what he wants, and if we follow his words, we will be happy. This is how we serve God. We may say that we are his servants. But we may not do what he wants. Then we are not saying what is true. We must not think that the good things that we do will buy us a place near to God. We show our love by doing the good things that God wants us to do. Then we are good servants, and God’s good children.
v1 My Christian brothers, you *trust the *Lord Jesus Christ, who is full of *glory. So, do not value one person more than another. v2 Think about two men who come to your meeting place. One of them is wearing good clothes and has gold rings. The other man is poor, and wearing old clothes. v3 You look at the man wearing good clothes. You say to him “*Please sit here in a good place.” But you say to the poor man “Stand here”, or “Sit at my feet”. v4 If you do this, you have given to each of them a different value. You must not think of one of them as better than the other. This is wrong and your thoughts are not correct.
v5 My *dear brothers, listen to me. This is what God has done. He has chosen those whom people of this world call poor. But they believe in God so he calls them rich. He will give them a place in his *kingdom. God has promised this to those who love him. v6 But you have done wrong to the poor man. And so, you have made him feel ashamed. It is the rich who bring trouble to you. It is they who ask *judges to say without a good reason that you have done wrong. v7 It is rich men who speak badly about the good Lord. Yet he called you to be his.
Every Christian is important to God. Each Christian is valuable to him. Our money and good clothes are not important. God has chosen poor people to show us that his love is better than money or good clothes. We should be good to poor people and to rich people. God wants us to be good to people from every family and every country. We are not better than other people if we have more money than they have. God wants us to love other people and to love him more than all.
v8 Now God, who is king, has said in his word “Love other people as you love yourself”. If you really do this, you do well. v9 But if you think that one man is better than another, that is *sin. *God’s lawsays that you are wrong. v10 After all, we must obeyeveryrule that the *law tells us. If we fail to obey one small rule, we have failed to obey the whole *law. v11 For example, God has said in his *law “You must not have sex with another who is not your husband or wife”. He has also said, “Do not kill another person”. If you do not have wrong sex, but you do murder, you have not obeyed the *law of God. v12 Speak and live as those who know and obey the *law of God. This law sets us free. It is by this *law that God will say soon if our lives are good or bad. v13 God will not be kind to those who have not been kind. He will be kind to those who have been kind. When God is kind, it is better than when he says, “You are wrong”.
v14 My Christian brothers, you say that you believe in God. If you do not show this by doing good things, what you say is no use at all. If your *faith is like that, God will not save you. v15 If a Christian brother or sister does not have enough clothes or food, he or she needs help. v16 It is no good saying to them “God will help you. Stay warm and eat well.” That does not help them at all, unless you give them what they need. v17 If you say that you believe but you do not do good things, that is no use at all. People show they really believe in God by the good things that they do.
v18 Someone will say, “You believe in God but I help people”. Show me that you believe in God without doing good things. And I will show you that I believe in God by helping people. v19 You say you believe that there is one God. Good! The *demons believe that, and it makes them very afraid. v20 You silly person, you should not need me to show you these facts. If you say that you believe but you do not do good things, that is no use at all. v21 Think of our father Abraham. When God told him offer his son Isaac on an *altar. God called him a good man because he did that. v22 You can see that Abraham believed God, because he did what God told him to do. When he obeyed, he showed that he really believed in God. v23 This is just what the *scriptures said would happen. Abraham believed God, so God called him a good man. God also called him his friend. v24 So God does not call a person good just because he says he believes in God. God calls a person good when that person does good things.
v25 It was the same with Rahab. She was a person who lived by sex. Yet when some *Jews came to her she did something that *pleased God. They were enemies of her people and they had come to look at her city. To *please God, she let them stay in her house. She kept them safe. Then she sent them home by a different way. It was because she did this that God called her good. v26 The body with no spirit is dead. In the same way, you may say that you believe in God. But if you do not do good things, what you say is no use at all.
If we only do one small wrong thing, God will be angry with us. Any wrong thing that we do hurts God. He will punish us one day, if we do things that hurt other people. If we are kind to other people, God will be kind to us. But we must keep every one of his words. We show our love to God by doing the things that *please him. Words alone mean nothing. We must show that we are God’s people. We show it when we help other people. And we do the things that make them happy. We should *trust God like Abraham and Rahab. Rahab was a bad woman (see Joshua 2:1-20; 6:22-23 and James 2:25). But God forgave the bad things that she had done. She *trusted God and he saved her whole family. She became one of God’s people, and a grandmother to his kings. She even became grandmother to the *Lord Jesus Christ.
v1 My Christian brothers, not many of you should be teachers. God will demand more of teachers than of other people when he *judges them. v2 After all, we all make many mistakes. Anyone who says nothing that is wrong is good in all that he does. He can make his whole body do what is right. v3 For example, look at what we do with a horse. We can make it obey us by putting a bit of iron into its mouth. By doing this we can turn it and make it go where we want. v4 Think about ships that sail on the sea. They are large, and strong winds push them over the water. Yet we fix a small piece of wood under the back of the ship. A man can use this to make the large ship turn where he wants it to go. v5 The *tongue is like that too. It is a very small part of the body but it talks of big things. A very small fire can make a forest burn.
v6 And the *tongue is like a fire, a whole world of *evil. The *tongue is a small part of the body but it makes the whole person bad. It destroys all of his life. It is the fire that comes from *hell that makes the *tongue so dangerous. v7 After all, people can make all kinds of animals, birds, snakes and fishes do what they want them to do. v8 But no person can rule his *tongue. No person can stop it from saying bad things. It is like a bad poison and can cause death. v9 We use the *tongue to *praise our *Lord and Father. We also use it to speak bad things against people. Yet God made people to be like himself. v10 So we use the same mouth to *praise and to speak bad things. My Christian brothers, we should not do this. v11 Salt water and sweet water cannot come from the same spring. v12 My Christian brothers, a *fig tree cannot grow *olives. A plant that grows *grapes cannot also grow *figs. Neither can a spring have both salt and sweet water. In the same way, we should not use the *tongue to *praise God, then to speak bad things.
If we choose to say only one wrong word, it can lead us away from God. One small wrong word can turn our minds away from God’s way. Then we do or say more wrong things. This could take us far from God. We need to let God guide our minds and our words all the time.
Teachers must be careful to teach God’s word correctly. They must follow all the words of the Bible. They must ask God for understanding. God wants teachers to teach by what they do. To say the words is not enough. Teachers must be an example to other Christians.
We must all be careful to speak only good words. The *devil will try to make us say bad things. If we are God’s people, we will not tell lies or say things that hurt anyone. God’s people should say and do only good things.
v13 Some of you may be *wise. You will understand these things. So show that you are *wise by what you do. Have good and quiet lives. v14 Do not think bad things about other people. Do not feel bad because they have what you want. You may think these bad things. If you do, do not think that you are better than other people. Do not say that you are *wise. v15 You may think bad things about other people. But that is not how God would want you to think. People who do not know God may think that way. The bad parts of human nature make you think like that. It is like the way that *demons think. v16 You think bad things about other people. And you think that you are better than they are. That brings trouble between people and lots of bad things will happen. v17 If God makes you *wise, you will first of all be clean and true. Then you will love to be at *peace with other people. You will be quiet and ready to obey. You will be loving and kind, doing good things to all people. You will be honest and you will value each person.
v18 Those who bring *peace to other people help them to live at *peace with everyone. God will call those people good.
v1 You so often fight and quarrel among yourselves. You must know why this is. It is because you want to *please yourselves. It is because you have *evil thoughts that you are doing this to each other. v2 You want something but do not get it. You kill other people. And you try to take things that are not yours. But you cannot get them. You fight and you quarrel but still you do not get what you want. You do not get them because you do not ask God. v3 When you do ask, you do not receive anything. This is because you ask for the wrong reason. You ask so that you may spend what you get to *please yourselves. v4 You are like a wife who has sex with other men. The people who do not love God do those things that he says are bad. If you want to do those things, you are against God. All who choose to be friends of those who do wrong things are enemies of God. Do you know that? v5 The *scripture with good reason says to us: “God has caused his Spirit to live in us. He wants very much to keep us for himself.” v6 God gives us more loving help. That is why the *scripture says, “God is against those who think that they are very important. He gives his loving help to those who know that they need him.” v7 So give yourself to God alone. Fight against the *devil and he will run away from you. v8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Do not try to love *sin and love God at the same time. You cannot do this. So, start loving God only. Make your hearts and minds clean. You who want to go both ways. You cannot love *sin and God at the same time. v9 If you have been loving *sin, be sorry. Weep because you have *sinned. Do not laugh but be sad. Do not be happy but be serious.
v10 Think of yourselves as small before the *Lord God. Then he will make you great.
v11 My Christian brothers, do not say bad things against each other. You may speak against another Christian. Then you are speaking against what the *law says that we should do. If you say that another Christian is bad, you are speaking against the *law as well. When you say these things you are not doing what the *law says we should do. Rather, you are saying that what the *law wants us to do is not good. v12 It is God who says what we should do and he is to be the *judge. He alone can save us or destroy us. You, then, are not to say if a person is good or bad.
To fight and argue is to follow the ways of the *devil. If we say bad things about God’s word or his people, we are following the *devil. If we only want to *please ourselves, God will not hear us. We must listen to God. We must be sorry for doing wrong things. We must do good things. Then God will give us all we need to do the things, which *please him. Then we shall be happy. We need to fight the *devil, not other Christians. God will make us strong to fight. When we stand and face the *devil, he will run away. Our *trust in God will stop him from hurting us with his sharp attacks.
v13 Listen to me, you who say “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or to that one. We will stay a year there. We will buy and sell and get rich.” v14 You do not know what will happen tomorrow. Your life is like smoke that appears for a little while and then it is no more. v15 What you ought to say is “If it is what God wants, we will live here or there. If he wants it, we will do this or that.” v16 As it is, you talk about what you will do. You speak as if you can make it happen. It is wrong to speak like this. Only God knows and can make things happen. v17 So, we all know the good things that we ought to do. If we do not do them, we *sin.
We do not know what God will do tomorrow or the next day. We do know that he plans only the best things for his people. We know that we can *trust him, even when the way is hard. We need to follow his teaching every part of every day. Then our lives will *please him.
v1 Now, you rich people, weep and cry aloud. Many troubles will soon be coming to you. v2 Your money is of no real value. Your *beautiful clothes are as if *moths had eaten them. v3 You have kept a lot of money for yourselves in these last days. Your money has become *mouldy. That *mould will show how bad you are and it will become like fire burning your bodies. v4 You have not paid the wages of those who worked in your fields. Listen! The *Lord of all power has heard the cries of the workers. The money that you have kept for yourselves shows God that you have done wrong. v5 You have had all that you wanted. You have lived to *please yourselves on this earth. You have made yourselves fat. Now you are like animals ready for men to kill. v6 You have said about the good man, “He is bad, let us kill him.” He does not try to stop you.
We must value God and his word more than we value anything else. Our money and good clothes do not *please him. He values the good things that we do, and the kind words that we speak. He wants us to be good to our workers. If we are rich, God is *pleased when we give money to help poor people.
v7 Since the *Lord has heard your cries, then be patient my brothers until he comes. Think how the farmer is patient as he waits for the land to give food for him. He goes on waiting for the rain to come in the autumn and in the spring. v8 You, too, be patient and be strong in your hope because the *Lord is coming soon.
v9 Do not say bad things about each other, my Christian brothers. If you do this, God will say that you are wrong. He will come very soon to *judge people.
v10 The *prophets who brought messages from God showed us how to be patient, my brothers. They were patient even when they had to go through times of much pain. v11 We know that God *blessed people like that. They kept doing what God wanted even when they were in trouble. For example, you have heard of Job and how he kept looking to God for help. You have heard how, in the end, the *Lord *blessed him. The Lord was kind, very loving and did very many good things to him.
v12 When you make a promise, never say “as sure as heaven is there” or “as sure as earth is there” or “as God lives”. Let your “yes” mean “yes” and your “no” mean “no”. Otherwise God will not be *pleased.
v13 If one of you is in trouble, talk to God about it. If one of you is happy, sing and *praise God. v14 If one of you is sick, ask the church leaders to come. They will put a little oil on you and say, “In the name of the Lord Jesus we do this.” They will ask God to make him well. v15 Believe that God will answer, and then he will make the sick person well. His health will return and God will *forgive any wrong things that he has done. v16 So, tell each other about any wrong things that you have done. God makes sick people well so speak to him for each other. God really listens to a person who does what God wants. In fact, God does powerful things when someone asks him. v17 For example, Elijah was a man just like us. He *prayed that it would not rain and believed that God would answer him. And in fact, it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. v18 After that, he asked God to send rain again. It poured with rain and the seeds in the earth began to grow.
v19 My Christian brothers, if any one of you starts to do or think bad things, try to bring him back to God. v20 You know that whoever turns a person from doing wrong things will save him from *eternal death. Then God will *forgive him the many things that he has done wrong.
God keeps all his promises. It is impossible for him to lie. His power is bigger than we can understand. He will help us to be happy if we ask him. If we are ill and ask for his help, He can make us well again. If we have done anything wrong, and another Christian *prays for us, God will answer his *prayer. We may turn away from God’s teaching. If another Christian helps us to turn back to God, he will be saving us from death. God always listens to the *prayers of people who are really following his way.
· What things may help us to become grown-up Christians?
· Why should we be careful to say only good things?
· Does God love rich people? (See also chapter 5.)
· What things make God angry?
· How do we show that we have *faith in God?
· What should a Christian teacher be like?
· What are some of the things that make us fight each other?
· If we fight each other, does this *please God?
· How can we help Christians who are sick?
· What should we do when a brother does things that do not *please God?
· What should all Christians be waiting for?
altar ~ table for burning animals or other gifts offered to God.
beauty/beautiful ~ lovely to look at.
bless ~ when we say or do much good to a person.
blessed ~ when we are happy; when we know that God does good to us.
dear ~ what we call someone that we love.
devils/demons ~ bad or *evil spirits. They work for Satan, the chief *devil.
eternal ~ what has always been and always will be.
evil ~ things or people that are very bad. There is no good in them.
faith ~ when we believe in something or someone.
fig ~ kind of sweet fruit. It grows on a tree.
forgive ~ if we show *mercy and do not remember *sin.
glory ~ everything that makes God *beautiful and great.
God’s law ~ what God says in *scripture that we should or should not do.
grape ~ fruit of a *vine (a climbing plant). It can be made into *wine.
hell ~ a place of great unhappiness, and a long way from God.
Jews ~ people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
judge ~ person who can say what or who is right.
kingdom ~ where a king rules.
law ~ rules made to save men from hurting each other.
Lord ~ one who rules or is a master. God is the Lord who rules everyone.
mature ~ grown up.
mercy ~ when we help people who do wrong, to show that we love them.
moths ~ flying insects whose babies eat clothes.
mould/mouldy ~ something growing on cloth that destroys it.
olive ~ tree or its small fruit with a stone. It is rich in oil.
peace ~ when we have no troubles in our mind; when we are friendly towards other people.
please ~ when we make a person happy.
praise ~ when we say good things about a person.
pray ~ when we talk to God.
prophet ~ person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future.
Scripture ~ the Bible/Old Testament.
sin ~ when we do not obey the rules of God.
tempt ~ when we try to make someone do something bad.
tongue ~ large red part (of the body) in the mouth. It helps us to speak.
tribe ~ family from one man. The first *Jews were the 12 sons of Jacob. The family of each son became a *tribe.
trust ~ when we believe in a person.
vine ~ plant that climbs. Its fruits are called *grapes.
wine ~ drink made from *grapes. It contains alcohol.
wisdom ~ we say that a wise person has wisdom.
wise ~ when we understand God’s word. A wise person knows what is good and right, and does it.
· NIV Study Bible
· Tyndale NT Commentaries ~ ‘James’ by R.V.G. Tasker
· Interlinear Greek - English New Testament by Robert K. Brown and Philip W. Comfort (1990).
© 1999-2000, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)
December 2000
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