James — The Tyndale New Testament (1534)

The epistle of James in Tyndale's revised New Testament of 1534, translated from the Greek. The prologue printed before it serves both James and Jude. Like Hebrews, Jude and Revelation, the epistle stands unnumbered at the end of the 1534 list of books. It is printed here from the copy in the British Library as keyed by the Text Creation Partnership, in the spelling of 1534; the margin notes are given as footnotes, and the crosses ✚ and ⊢ mark where the lessons read in church begin and end.

¶ The Prolge vpon the pistles of S. Iames and Iudas.

THough this epistle were refused in the olde tyme and denyed of manye to be the epistle of a verye apostle / and though also it laye not the foundacyon of the fayth of Christ / but speaketh of a generall fayth in god / nether preacheth his deathe and resurreccyon / ether the mercye that is layde vp in store for vs in him / or euerlastynge couenaūt made vs in his bloude / which is the offyce and dutye of a verye apostle / as Christ sayeth. Io. xv. ye shall testifie of me: yet because yt setteth vp no mannes doctryne / but cryeth to kepe the lawe of god / and maketh loue which is withoute percialite the fullfillinge of the lawe / as christ and all the apostles dyd / & hath therto manye good and godlye sentēces in it: & hath also nothinge y⟨illegible⟩ is not a greable to y⟨illegible⟩ rest of the scripture yf it beloked indifferentlye on: me thynketh it ought of ryght to be taken for holye scripture. For as for that place for which haply it was at the begynninge refused of holye men (as it ought / if it had meant / as they toke it / and for which place only / for the false vnderstondinge / it hath been chefely receaued of the Papistes) yet if the circumstāces be well pondered it will apere that the auctors entent was farre other wise then they tooke him for.

For where he sayth in the .ij. chap. fayth withoute deedes is deed in it selfe / he meaneth none other thinge then all the scripture dothe: how that that fayth which hath no good dedes folowinge / is a false fayth & none of that fayth iustifieth or receaueth forgeuenes of synnes. For God promised thē onlie forgeuenes of their synnes which turne to god / to kepe his lawes. Wherfore they that purpose to cōtinew still in synne haue no parte in that promyse: but deceaue thē selues / if they beleue that God hath forgeuē thē their olde synnes for Christes sake. And after whē he sayth that a mā is iustified by dedes & not of fayth onlye / he will no more then that fayth dothe not so iustifie euery where / that nothinge iustifieth saue fayth. For dedes also do iustifie. And as fayth onlye iustifieth before God / so do dedes onlye iustifie before the worlde / wher of is ynough spoken / partlye in the Prologe on Paule to the Romayns / & also in other places. For as Paule affyrmeth Roma. iij. that Abraham was not iustified by workes a fore God / but by fayth onlye as Genesis beareth recorde / so will Iames that dedes onlye iustified him be fore the worlde / and fayth wrought with his dedes: that is to saye / fayth wherwith he was ryghteous before God in the hert did cause him to worke the will of God outwardlye / wherby he was ryghteous before the worlde / & wherby the worlde perceaued that he beleued in god loued & feared God. And as Hebre. xj. the scripture affirmeth th⟨illegible⟩t Rahab was iustified before God thorow fayth / so doth Iames affirme that thorow workes by which she shewed hir fayth / shew as iustified before the worlde / & it is true.

And as for the epistle of Iudas / though men haue & yet do doute of the auctoure / & though it seme also to be drawen oute of the seconde epistle of S. Peter / and therto alledgeth scripture that is no where founde / yet seinge the matter is so godly and agreynge to other places of holye scripture / I se not but that it ought to haue the aucrorite of holye scripture.

The text

Chapter 1

¶ The fyrst Chapter.

1 IAmes the seruaūt of God and of the [A] Lorde Iesus Christ / sendeth gretinge to y[ᵉ]. xii. trybes which are scattered here and there.

2 ✚ My brethren / count it excedynge ioye when ye faule into divers tēptacions /

3 for as moche as ye knowe how that the tryinge of youre fayth bringeth pacience: and let pacience

4 have her parfect worke / that¹ ye maye be parfecte and sounde / lackinge nothinge.

5 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.

6 But let him axe in fayth & waver² not. For he that douteth is lyke the waves of the see / tost of the wynde and caried with violence.

7 Nether let that man thinke that he shall receave eny thinge of the Lorde.

8 A waveringe mynded man is vnstable in all [B]³ his wayes.

9 Let the brother of lowe degre reioyce in yᵗ he is exalted /

10 & the ryche in that he is made lowe. For evē as y[ᵉ] flower of the grasse / shall he vanysshe awaye.

11 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.

12 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. ⊢

13 Let no man saye when he is tēpted that he is tempted of God. For God tēpteth not vnto evyll / nether tēpteth he anie mā.

14 But every mā is tēpted / drawne awaye / & entysed of his awne concupiscēce.

15 Then when lust hath cōceaved / she bringeth forth synne / & synne whē it is fynisshed bringeth forthe deeth.

16 Erre not my deare brethren.

17 ✚ Every good gyfte / & every parfayt gyft / is from above and commeth doune frō the father of light / with whom is no variablenes / nether is he chaunged vnto dareknes.

18 Of his awne will begat [C] he vs with the worde of lyfe / that we shuld be the fyrst frutes of his creatures.

19 Wherfore deare brethren / let every man be swyfte to heare / slowe to speake / and slowe to wrath.

20 For the wrath of man worketh not that which is ryghteous before God.

21 Wherfore laye a parte all fylthynes / all superfluite of maliciousnes / and receave with meknes the worde yᵗ is grafted in you / which is able to save youre soules ✚.

22 ✚ And se that ye be doars of the worde & not hearers only / deceavinge youre awne selves with sophistrie

23 [D] For yf eny heare the worde / and do it not / he is lyke vnto a man that beholdeth his bodyly face in a glasse.

24 For assone as he hath loked on him silfe / he goeth his waye / & forgetteth immediatlie what his fassion was.

25 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 y[ᵉ] worke) the same shallbe happie in his dede.

26 Yf eny man amonge you seme devoute / and refrayne not his tonge: but deceave his awne herte / this mannes devocion is in vayne

27 Pure devocion and vndefiled before God the father / is this: to vysit the frendlesse and widdowes⁴ in their adversite / and to kepe him silfe vnspotted of the worlde. ⊢

Notes to Chapter 1

Chapter 2

¶ The .ii. Chapter. ✚

1 BRethren have not the fayth of oure lorde Iesus Christ the lorde of glory in respecte of persons.

2 Yf ther come into [A] youre company a man with a golden rynge and in goodly aparell and ther come in also a poore man in vyle rayment /

3 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 fote stole:

4 are ye not parciall in youre selves / and have iudged after evyll thoughtes?

5 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?

6 But ye have despised the poore. Are [B] not the rych they which opresse you: and they which drawe you before iudges?

7 Do not they speake evyll of that good name after which ye be named.

8 Yf ye fulfill the royall lawe accordynge to the scripture which sayth. Thou shallt love thyne neghbour as thy silfe / ye do well.

9 But yf ye regarde one person more then another / ye commit synne / and are rebuked of the lawe as transgressours.

10 Whosoever shall kepe the whole lawe / and yet fayle in one poynt / he is gyltie in all.

11 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.

12 So speake ye / and so do as they that shalbe iudged by the⁵ lawe of libertie.

13 For ther shalbe iudgement merciles to him that sheweth no mercy / and mercy reioyseth agaynst iudgement:

14 ✚ [C] What a vayleth it my brethren / though a man saye he hath fayth / when he hath no dedes? Can fayth save him?

15 If a brother or a sister be naked or destitute of dayly fode /

16 and one of you saye vnto them: Departe in peace / God sende you warmnes & fode: not withstondynge ye geve thē not tho thyngꝭ which are nedfull to the body: what helpeth it thē?

17 Evē so fayth / yf it have no dedes / is deed in it selfe.

18 Ye & a man myght saye: Thou hast sayth / and I have dedes: Shewe me thy fayth by thy dedes: and I will shewe the my fayth by my dedes.

19 Belevest thou yᵗ ther is one God? Thou doest well. The devyls also beleve and tremble.

20 Wilt thou vnderstonde o thou vayne man / [D] that fayth with out dedes is deed?

21 Was not Abrahā oure father iustified thorow workes when he offered Isaac his sonne vpō the aultre?

22 Thou seist how that fayth wrought with his dedes / and through the dedes was the fayth made parfect:

23 & y[ᵉ] scripture was fulfilled which sayth: Abraham beleved God / & it was reputed vnto him for rightewesnes: & he was called the frēde of God.

24 ✚ Ye se then how that of dedes a man is iustified / & not of fayth only.

25 Lyke wyse also was not Raab the harlot iustifyed thorow workes / when she receaved the messengers / & sent thē out another waye?

26 For as the body / with oute the sprete⁶ is deed / evē so fayth with out dedes is deed ⊢

Notes to Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The .iii. Chapter.

1 MY brethren / be not every mā a⁷ master / remembringe how that we shall [A] receave the more damnacion:

2 for in many thinges we synne all. Yf a man synne not in worde / the same is a parfecte mā / & able to tame all the body.

3 Beholde we put bittes into y[ᵉ] horses mouthes that they shuld obeye vs / & we turne aboute all the body.

4 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.

5 Even so the tonge is a lyttell member / and bosteth great thinges. Beholde how gret a thinge a lyttell fyre kyndleth /

6 & 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.

7 All the natures of beastes / & of byrdes / and [B] of serpentes / and thinges of y[ᵉ] see / are meked & tamed of the nature of man.

8 But the tonge can no man tame. Yt is an vnruely evyll full of deedly poyson.

9 Therwith blesse we God the father / and therwith cursse we mē which are made after the similitude of God.

10 Out of one mouth proceadeth blessynge and cursynge. My brethren these thinges ought not so to be.

11 Doth a fountayne sende forth at one place swete water and bytter also?

12 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.

13 If eny man be wyse and endued with learnynge amonge you let him shewe the workes of his [C] good conversaciō in meknes that ys coupled with⁸ wisdome.

14 But Yf ye have bitter envyinge and stryfe in youre hertes / reioyce not: nether be lyars agaynst the trueth.

15 This wisdome descēdeth not from a boue: but is erthy / and * naturall /⁹ and divelisshe.

16 For where envyinge & stryfe [A] is / there is stablenes & all māner of evyll workes.

17 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 simulaciō:

18 yee / and the frute of rightewesnes is sowen in peace / of them that mayntene peace.

Notes to Chapter 3

Chapter 4

¶ The .iiii. Chapter.

1 FRom whence commeth warre & fighttynge [A]¹⁰ amonge you: come they not here hence? even of youre volupteousnes that rayne in youre members.

2 Ye lust / and have¹¹ not. Ye envie & have indignacion / and cannot obtayne. Ye fight and warre & have not / because ye axe not.

3 Ye axe and receave not / because ye axe a mysse: even to consume it apon¹² youre volupteousnes.

4 Ye advouterars / & wemen that breke matrimonie: knowe ye not how yᵗ the frēshippe of yᵉ worlde is ennimite to godwarde? Whosoever wilbe a frende of the worlde / is made the enemie of god.

5 Ether do ye thinke that the scripture sayth in vayne [B] The¹³ sprite that dwelleth in you / lusteth evē contrary to envie:

6 but geveth more grace.

7 Submit youre selves to god / and resist the devyll / and he will flye from you.

8 Drawe nye to god & he will drawe nye to you. Clense youre hondes ye synners / and pourdge youre hertes ye waverynge mynded.

9 Suffre afflicciōs: sorowe ye and wepe. Let youre laughter be turned to mornynge / and youre ioye to hevynes.

10 Cast doune youre selves before the lorde / and he shall lift you vp.

11 Backbyte not one another / brethren. He that¹⁴ 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 yᵉ lawe: but a iudge.

12 Ther is one lawe gever / which is able to save and to distroye. [D] What art thou that iudgest a nother man?

13 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:

14 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 thē vanyssheth awaye:

15 For that ye ought to saye: yf the lorde will and yf we live / let vs do this or that.

16 But nowe ye reioyce in youre bostinges. All soche reioysynge is evyll.

17 Therfore to him that knoweth how to do good / and doth it not / to him it is synne.¹⁵

Notes to Chapter 4

Chapter 5

The .v. Chapter.

1 GOo to now ye ryche men. Wepe / and howle on youre wretchednes that shall [A] come apon you.

2 Youre ryches is corrupte / youre garmentes are motheaten.

3 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:

4 Beholde the hyre of yᵉ labourers which have reped doune youre feldes (which hyer is of you kept backe by fraude) cryeth: & y[ᵉ] cryes of them which have reped / are entred into the eares of th⟨illegible⟩ lorde Sabaoth.

5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the erth and in wantannes. Ye have norysshed youre herte / as in a daye of¹⁶ slaughter.

6 Ye have condempned and have killed the iust / and he hath not resisted you.

7 ✚ 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.)

8 Be ye also pacient therfore / and settle youre hertes / for y[ᵉ] commynge of the lorde draweth nye.

9 Grodge not one agaynst another brethrē /¹⁷ lest ye be dāpned. Beholde the iudge stondeth before the dore.

10 Take (my brethren) the prophettes for an ensample of sufferynge adversitie / and of longe pacience / which spake in the name of the lorde.

11 ✚ 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.

12 But above all thynges my brethrē / sweare not / nether by heven / nether by erth / nether by eny other othe. Let youre¹⁸ ye be ye / and youre maye naye: lest ye faule into ypocrecy.

13 Yf eny of you be evyll vexed / let him praye. Yf eny of you be mery / let him singe Psalmes.

14 Yf eny be deseased amonge you / let him call for the elders of the congregacion / and let thē praye over him / and anoynte him with oyle in the name of the lorde:

15 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.

16 ✚ knowledge youre fautes one to another: & praye one for another / that ye maye be healed. The prayer of a ryghteous mā avayleth moche / yf it be fe[r]vēt.

17 Helias was a man mortall even as we are / and he prayed in his prayer /¹⁹ that it myght not rayne: and it rayned not on the erth by the space of thre yeares and sixe monethes.

18 And he prayed agayne / & the hevē gave rayne & the erth brought forth her frute.

19 Brethren yf eny of you erre from the trueth²⁰ and a nother convert him /

20 let the same knowe that he which converted the synner frō goynge a straye out of his waye / shall save a soule frō deeth / & shall hyde yᵉ multitude of synnes.

The ende of the pistle of Saynct Iames.

Notes to Chapter 5

Colophon

Transcribed from The newe Testament dylygently corrected and compared with the Greke by Willyam Tindale (Antwerp: Marten Emperowr, November 1534; STC 2826), British Library copy, as keyed by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP Phase I, text A68940): keyed by Apex CoVantage from the ProQuest page images in 2005, then sampled and proofread by Judith Siefring. The TCP transcription was released into the public domain under CC0 1.0. The printed text is in the public domain.

Spelling, capitals, punctuation (including the virgule /), abbreviation marks (the macron, as in thē, and ꝭ) and the signs ¶ ✚ ⊢ ❧ are kept as printed. The only changes are these: long s (ſ) is set as s; superscript letters are set as ᵉ ᵗ ᵒ (yᵉ = the, yᵗ = that); ▪ marks a stop the transcribers could not identify; a word divided at the end of a line, with or without a printed hyphen, is joined into one word; a letter supplied from another text, as explained below, is set in square brackets; page breaks and catchwords are removed. Woodcuts and decorated initials are not reproduced, but woodcut captions are given. The margin notes are given as numbered footnotes. Printed headings are kept, including their misprints, as italic lines under the library's chapter headings. The letters [A] to [G] are the section letters printed in the margin, by which the 1534 margin references (for example "Esaie vij. c.") and the table of lessons find a passage.

The 1534 print has no verse numbers. They are supplied here from the eBible.org Tyndale New Testament (1534), a public-domain, verse-numbered electronic text of the same edition. A word-by-word alignment showed that about 97 per cent of the two texts' words are identical across the New Testament, and the remainder differ in spelling and abbreviation, with a few slips of keying in one text or the other. The paragraphs of the print give way to one paragraph per verse.

Words that the transcribers could not read are marked ⟨illegible⟩ (13 places on this page, 9 of them in the margin notes).

In the verse text of this book, 9 places that the transcribers could not read in the printed book have been supplied from the eBible.org Tyndale New Testament (1534), a later electronic transcription of Tyndale's New Testament whose transcriber is not named. Each supplied letter is set in square brackets, as in y[ᵉ] or fal[c]e, so that it can be told from a letter the transcribers read in the print. A place was supplied only where the verse alignment was exact on both sides, the eBible reading agreed letter for letter with every legible letter, and no macron could have stood in the gap. Where the small superscript letter after y was supplied, the eBible text is the only evidence for that letter.

This is an archival transcription of Tyndale's printed English, not a Good Works Translation: nothing here has been translated or modernised by the library.

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