and Samuel, and of the prophets; who through faith sub 33 dued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped lions' mouths, quenched the strength of fire, 34 escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, overturned the camps of the strangers; women received their dead by being raised 35 again; and some men were tortured, not accepting the deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others had trial of mockings and scourging, yea more- 36 over of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, were 37 sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, (of whom the world was not 38 worthy,) wandering in desert places and on mountains, and in caves and holes of the earth. And these all, having 39 received a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, 40 that without us they might not be made perfect.

Wherefore, since we also have so great a cloud of wit- 1 nesses set around us, let us lay aside every weight, and the besetting sin, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the beginner and finisher of the faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider 3 him that endured such contradiction from sinners against himself, so that ye may not be wearied, fainting in your minds.

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Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as sons; My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when rebuked by him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth; and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, 7 God dealeth with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastening, whereof all were made partakers, then ye are base-born and not sons. Have we then had fathers of our flesh who chastened us, and whom we reverenced; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for the sake of a few days chastened us as they thought fit; but He for our profit, that we might

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11 be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.

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Wherefore set right the hanging hands, and the enfeebled 13 knees; and make straight paths for your feet, that even lameness be not turned aside, but rather be healed. 14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which 15 no man will see the Lord; looking carefully lest any man fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, 17 who sold his birthright for one meal. For ye know that

afterwards, when he wished to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind, 18 though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come unto the mountain that could be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and 19 tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; the hearers of which begged that the word should 20 not be spoken to them any more; for they could not

bear what was commanded, If even a beast touch the moun21 tain it shall be stoned, and so terrible was the sight, Moses 22 said, I exceedingly fear and tremble. But ye are come to

mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the hea23 venly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the general assembly and to the church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, and to God the judge of 24 all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to blood of 25 sprinkling, that speaketh better than Abel. See that ye neglect not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who neglected Him when warning upon earth, how much less we, if we turn from Him when warning from heaven; 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He hath promised, saying; Yet once more I shake not the earth 27 only, but also the heavens. And this, Yet once more, meaneth the changing of the things shaken, as of things 28 made, that the unshaken things may remain. Wherefore,

since we receive an unshaken kingdom, let us have thankfulness, whereby we may serve God acceptably 29 with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.

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Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful of hos- 1 2 pitality; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember the prisoners, as being fellow-pri- 3 soners; those that are ill-treated, as being yourselves also in the body. Let marriage be honourable among all, and 4 the bed be undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Let your behaviour be without greediness 5 for money; be content with what ye have; for He hath said; I will never leave thee, no, I will never forsake thee. So that we may boldly say; The Lord is my helper, and 6 I will not fear; what can man do to me? Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God; whose faith imitate, considering the end of their way of life. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 8 and to-day, and to the end of the world. Be not carried away by divers and strange doctrines; for it is good that the heart be established in grace, not in meats; in which those that walk are not profited. We have an altar, off 10 which they who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is 11 brought into the Holies by the high priest as a sin-offering, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, 12 that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us therefore go forth to 13 him without the camp, bearing his reproach; for here 14 we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Through him therefore let us offer up the sacrifice of 15 praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips acknowledging his name. But to do good and to distribute for- 16 get not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that rule over you, and submit; for they 17 watch over your souls, as having to give an account; so that they may do it with joy and not with grief; for that is unprofitable to you. Pray for us; for we trust that 18 we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to live honestly; and I beseech you the rather to do this, that 19 I may be restored to you the sooner.

And may the God of peace, who brought again from 20 the dead our Lord Jesus, the shepherd of the sheep, great by the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you per- 21 fect in every good work to do his will; working in you what is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ; -to whom be glory for ages of ages; amen.

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And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation; for I have written unto you in a few words. 23 Know that our brother Timothy is set at liberty, with 24 whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. Greet all who rule over you, and all the saints. They from Italy salute 25 you. Grace be with you all; amen.

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THE GENERAL EPISTLES.

The Epistle of JAMES.

JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are in the dispersion, greeting. 2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into divers 3 temptations; knowing that the trying of your faith worketh 4 patience. And let patience have perfect work, that ye may 5 be perfect and entire, wanting in nothing. And if any of

you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth freely to • all and upbraideth not; and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting. For he that doubteth is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing 8 from the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

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Let the lowly brother rejoice in his height; and the rich in his lowliness; for as a flower of grass will he 11 pass away. For the sun riseth with its scorching, and

withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth off, and the grace of its form perisheth; so also will the rich man 12 fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

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Let no man, when tempted, say, 'I am tempted by 'God;' for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he 14 tempteth no man. But every man is tempted, when 15 drawn away and enticed by his own lust. Then when

lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when 16 finished, bringeth forth death. Be not deceived, my 17 beloved brethren; every good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the

Lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning. Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth, 18 that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be quick 19 to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of 20 man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, 21 laying aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

And be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, 22 deceiving yourselves. For if any be a hearer of the 23 word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he beholdeth himself, and 24 goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law 25 of liberty, and continueth, not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in his deed. If any man seem to be religious, and bridleth not 26 his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before our 21 God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep one's self unspotted from the world.

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My brethren, hold not the faith of Jesus Christ, our Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come into your synagogue a man with a gold ring, in gay clothing, and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing, and ye look up to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say, 'Sit thou there, honourably;' and say to the poor man, 'Stand thou there,' or, 'Sit here under 'my footstool;' then are ye not partial among yourselves, + and judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren; hath not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? But ye have dishonoured the poor. Do not the rich men oppress you, and drag you to judgment? Do not they speak ill of that worthy name by which ye are called? If indeed ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well; but if ye have respect, to persons, ye commit sin, and are convicted under the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole 10

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