James suggestions from Forest Deal, edited by Tom Warren

60-JAS.usfm

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 \v 1 I, James, serve God and am bound to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing this letter to the twelve Jewish tribes who trust in Christ and who are scattered throughout the world. I greet you all.
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 \v 2 My fellow believers, consider it something to greatly rejoice over when you experience various kinds of hardships.
-\v 3 Understand that as you trust God in hardships, they help you to endure even more hardships.
+\v 3 Understand that as you trust God in hardships they help you to endure even more hardships.
 
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 \v 4 Endure hardships to their very end so that you may follow Christ in every way. Then you will not fail to do well.
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 \v 9 Believers who are poor should be glad because God has honored them.
 \v 10 And believers who are rich should be glad that God has humbled them, which helps them trust in Jesus Christ, because they and their riches will pass away, just as wild flowers wither.
-\v 11 When the sun rises, the scorching hot wind dries the plants and causes the flowers to fall and no longer be beautiful. Like the flower that dies, rich people will die while they are earning money.
+\v 11 When the sun rises, the scorching hot wind dries the plants and causes the flowers to fall and no longer be beautiful. Like the flowers that dies, rich people will die while they are earning money.
 
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-\v 12 God honors those who endure hard trials, because God will reward them by making them live forever, as he has promised to do for all who love him.
+\v 12 God honors those who endure hard trials. He will reward them by making them live forever, as he has promised to do for all who love him.
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 \v 13 When we are tempted to sin, we must not think it is God who is tempting us, because no one can persuade God to do evil, and he never tries to persuade anyone to do evil.
 
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 \v 13 Are any of you wise and understanding? That person should show his wisdom and understanding by the way he lives his life. He should show his good life by demonstrating the humility that comes when a person has wisdom.  
-\v 14 But if you are very envious of other people and lie against them and do them wrong, you should not pretend that you are wise. By boasting like that you are saying that what is true is actually false.
+\v 14 But if you are very envious of other people and tell lies about them and do them wrong, you should not pretend that you are wise. By boasting like that you are saying that what is true is actually false.
 
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 \v 15 Those who think like this are not wise as God wants them to be. Instead, they are only thinking and acting as people who do not honor him. They think and act according to their own evil desires. They do what the demons want them to do.
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-\v 13 Some of you are arrogantly saying, "Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city. We will spend a year there and we will buy and sell things and earn a lot of money." Now, you listen to me!
+\v 13 Some of you are arrogantly saying, "Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city. We will spend a year there and we will buy and sell things and earn a lot of money." Now you listen to me!
 \v 14 You should not talk like that, because you do not know what will happen tomorrow, and you do not know how long you will live! Your life is short, like a mist that appears for a short time and then disappears.
 
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 \v 1 Now I have something to say to you rich people who say you believe in Christ. Listen to me! You should weep and wail loudly because you will experience terrible troubles!
 \v 2 Your wealth is worthless, as though it were rotted. Your fine clothes are worthless, as though moths had ruined them.
-\v 3 Your gold and silver are worthless, as though they were corroded. When God judges you, this worthless wealth of yours will be evidence that you are guilty of being greedy, and as rust and fire destroy things, God will severely punish you. You have in vain stored up wealth in a time when God is about to judge you.
+\v 3 Your gold and silver are worthless, as though they were corroded. When God judges you, this worthless wealth of yours will be evidence that you are guilty of being greedy, and, as rust and fire destroy things, God will severely punish you. You have in vain stored up wealth in a time when God is about to judge you.
 
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 \v 4 Think about what you have done. You did not pay the wages you promised to the workmen who harvested your fields for you. The pay you kept for yourself shows me your guilt and how unfair you were to them. The workers cry out to God because of the way you treat them. And the Lord commander of the angel armies listens to their loud cries.
 \v 5 You have bought anything you wanted so you could live like kings. Just like cattle fatten themselves, not realizing that they will be slaughtered, you have lived just to enjoy things, not realizing that God will severely punish you.
-\v 6 You have arranged for others to condemn innocent people. You have arranged for others to kill people, even though those people had not done anything wrong. They were not able to defend themselves against you. My brothers and sisters, that is what I say to the rich people who oppress you.
+\v 6 You gave testimony that convicted innocent people and put them to death. You killed innocent people who did not fight back. My brothers and sisters, that is what I say to the rich people who oppress you.
 
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