The Letters
- When
- c. AD 45–62
- Written by
- James, the brother of the Lord
- Chapters
- 5
The big idea
Practical wisdom for the Church: faith that does not show itself in works is dead. Control the tongue, care for the poor, and pray.
Themes
- Faith and works
- The tongue
- Trials and wisdom
- Prayer and anointing
Memory verse
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Key passages
- 1:2–8Trials and wisdom
- 1:22–27Doers of the word
- 2:14–26Faith without works
- 3:1–12The tongue
- 5:13–16Anointing of the sick
Links to other Scripture
- Matthew 5–7The Sermon on the mount
- Genesis 22Abraham’s faith shown in action
- Romans 3:28Read alongside Paul
- Mark 6:13They anointed the sick
Read the text
Choose a chapter to read it here in the King James Version. Verses with a dotted underline have notes from Bible scholars. Tap one to open them.
Notes from
Chapters
King James text and the commentaries of Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Gill, Clarke, Calvin, and Keil and Delitzsch are in the public domain. Tyndale Open Study Notes are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license, from tyndaleopenresources.com. Texts were reformatted for this site.
Journal prompts
Keep a journal or notebook for your study. Write your answers there, in your own words.
- Where do you see Christ in this book?
- James says to be doers of the word and not hearers only. What did you last hear from Scripture that you have not acted on?
- James warns how much damage the tongue can do. What do you need to change about how you speak?
- “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” What decision do you need wisdom for today?
- In one sentence, this book is about…