James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ¹  is from above, coming down ²  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ³ 

James 1:25

1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ⁴  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ⁵  will be blessed in what he does. ⁶ 

James 2:3

2:3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, ⁷  “You sit here in a good place,” ⁸  and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? ⁹ 

James 4:12

4:12 But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor? ¹⁰ 

James 5:17

5:17 Elijah was a human being ¹¹  like us, and he prayed earnestly ¹²  that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!

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¹ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

² tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

³ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).

⁴ tn Grk “continues.”

⁵ tn Grk “this one.”

⁶ tn Grk “in his doing.”

⁷ tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.

⁸ tn Or “sit here, please.”

⁹ tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).

¹⁰ tn Grk “who judges your neighbor.”

¹¹ tn Although it is certainly true that Elijah was a “man,” here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") has been translated as “human being” because the emphasis in context is not on Elijah’s masculine gender, but on the common humanity he shared with the author and the readers.

¹² tn Grk “he prayed with prayer” (using a Hebrew idiom to show intensity).