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James 1

James greets the twelve tribes scattered abroad, then moves fast through trials, the asking of God for wisdom, the withering of the rich like a grass-flower, and the source of temptation. He insists the deceiver in temptation is our own desire, never God, the unchanging Father of lights. Watch how the chapter closes the loop: hearing without doing is like a man who forgets his own face in a mirror. Religion that counts visits the fatherless and widows and keeps itself unstained.

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James 1 (WEB)

1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
3
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4
Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5
But 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, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
7
For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
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He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9
Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
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and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
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For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
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Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him.
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Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
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But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
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Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
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Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
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Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow.
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Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
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So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
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for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
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Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
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For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;
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for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
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But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
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If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
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Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Santiago 1 (RV1909)

1
JACOBO, siervo de Dios y del Señor Jesucristo, á las doce tribus que están esparcidas, salud.
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Hermanos míos, tened por sumo gozo cuando cayereis en diversas tentaciones;
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Sabiendo que la prueba de vuestra fe obra paciencia.
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Mas tenga la paciencia perfecta su obra, para que seáis perfectos y cabales, sin faltar en alguna cosa.
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Y si alguno de vosotros tiene falta de sabiduría, demándela á Dios, el cual da á todos abundantemente, y no zahiere; y le será dada.
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Pero pida en fe, no dudando nada: porque el que duda es semejante á la onda de la mar, que es movida del viento, y echada de una parte á otra.
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No piense pues el tal hombre que recibirá ninguna cosa del Señor.
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El hombre de doblado ánimo es inconstante en todos sus caminos.
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El hermano que es de baja suerte, gloríese en su alteza:
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Mas el que es rico, en su bajeza; porque él se pasará como la flor de la hierba.
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Porque salido el sol con ardor, la hierba se secó, y su flor se cayó, y pereció su hermosa apariencia: así también se marchitará el rico en todos sus caminos.
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Bienaventurado el varón que sufre la tentación; porque cuando fuere probado, recibirá la corona de vida, que Dios ha prometido á los que le aman.
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Cuando alguno es tentado, no diga que es tentado de Dios: porque Dios no puede ser tentado de los malos, ni él tienta á alguno:
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Sino que cada uno es tentado, cuando de su propia concupiscencia es atraído, y cebado.
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Y la concupiscencia, después que ha concebido, pare el pecado: y el pecado, siendo cumplido, engendra muerte.
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Amados hermanos míos, no erréis.
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Toda buena dádiva y todo don perfecto es de lo alto, que desciende del Padre de las luces, en el cual no hay mudanza, ni sombra de variación.
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El, de su voluntad nos ha engendrado por la palabra de verdad, para que seamos primicias de sus criaturas.
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Por esto, mis amados hermanos, todo hombre sea pronto para oir, tardío para hablar, tardío para airarse:
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Porque la ira del hombre no obra la justicia de Dios.
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Por lo cual, dejando toda inmundicia y superfluidad de malicia, recibid con mansedumbre la palabra ingerida, la cual puede hacer salvas vuestras almas.
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Mas sed hacedores de la palabra, y no tan solamente oidores, engañándoos á vosotros mismos.
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Porque si alguno oye la palabra, y no la pone por obra, este tal es semejante al hombre que considera en un espejo su rostro natural.
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Porque él se consideró á sí mismo, y se fué, y luego se olvidó qué tal era.
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Mas el que hubiere mirado atentamente en la perfecta ley, que es la de la libertad, y perseverado en ella , no siendo oidor olvidadizo, sino hacedor de la obra, este tal será bienaventurado en su hecho.
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Si alguno piensa ser religioso entre vosotros, y no refrena su lengua, sino engañando su corazón, la religión del tal es vana.
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La religión pura y sin mácula delante de Dios y Padre es esta: Visitar los huérfanos y las viudas en sus tribulaciones, y guardarse sin mancha de este mundo.

Asking versus doubting

The request for wisdom (v.5) comes with a sharp condition: ask in faith, not doubting, because the doubter is a wind-driven wave, a double-minded man unstable in all his ways. That instability anchors the whole letter, returning in chapter 4's call to purify the double-minded heart.

Set against the doubter is the giver who gives liberally and without reproach. The contrast frames James's recurring concern: a single, settled inner life that matches its outward acts rather than splitting between them.