Book of James (Complete NKJV Translation)

 

 

Book of James

(NKJV)

    

Salutation

1 1  James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
    

Faith and Humility

2  My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9  Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10  but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11  For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
    

On James the Just, the Brother of our Lord (St. Jerome)

 

 

By St. Jerome

(On Illustrious Men, 2)

James, who is called the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just, the son of Joseph by another wife, as some think, but, as appears to me, the son of Mary sister of the mother of our Lord of whom John makes mention in his book, after our Lord's passion at once ordained by the apostles bishop of Jerusalem, wrote a single epistle, which is reckoned among the seven Catholic Epistles and even this is claimed by some to have been published by some one else under his name, and gradually, as time went on, to have gained authority.

Homily Five on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "The Mercy of God" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:

The Mercy of God

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

God, by revealing Himself to the Prophets and the Righteous of the Old Testament, but also to the Apostles and Saints in the New Testament, revealed Himself and people came to know some of His attributes, that He is love, merciful, philanthropic, just, etc. The names by which we know God are His energies. That is, God showed, at times, His compassion to sinners and they realized that He was compassionate and philanthropic. He showed love and they understood that God loves.

In these revelations God revealed to the Righteous and the Saints that He is merciful. That is why in the Church, when we ask God for something, then we justify it: "For You are a merciful and philanthropic God and to you we ascribe glory."

Holy Ethnomartyr Gregory, Bishop of Methoni († 1825)

 

St. Gregory of Methoni (Feast Day - October 22)

Gregory Papatheodoros was born in 1770 in the village of Albaina in Olympia. He was the son of Theodoros Papatheodoros and Anastasia from the Sakelarios family. His first letters were learned in his village, and he completed his knowledge in the Monastery of Vytina, which then had a rich library. According to Grigoriadis, "he was a man of great education and spoke three languages, Turkish, Arabic and French, and knew a little Italian." 

 

He leaned towards service in the Church and followed the priestly stages. He was ordained a Deacon on May 16, 1800, and a Presbyter and a Chancellor on April 9, 1806. He was ordained Bishop of Methoni, Navarino and Neokastro (August 12, 1816 - October 22, 1825) by Patriarch Cyril VI of Constantinople (1813 - 1818).

Saints Theodore and Paul of Rostov

 

Sts. Theodore and Paul of Rostov (Feast Day - October 22)

Our Venerable Fathers Theodore and Paul founded a monastery at the River Ust, not far from Rostov, in honor of the Holy Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb. Saint Theodore first came to the site of the future monastery from the Novgorod region. Having set up a hut of tree branches in the forest, he settled in that place alone. On the road on a tree he hung a basket made of bark, and passers-by, guessing that a hermit lived there, began to put bread, vegetables and other alms in it. The hermit secretly took out the alms and shared it with the beggars. Having found out about this, many from the villages began to come to the hermit for alms, and he shared everything that he found in the hung basket. Saint Paul came three years later for ascetic struggles, and settled with Saint Theodore.