from God;" for God is incapable of being tempted to do evil,
and He Himself tempts no one.
001:014 But when a man is tempted, it is his own passions that carry
him away and serve as a bait.
001:015 Then the passion conceives, and becomes the parent of sin;
and sin, when fully matured, gives birth to death.
001:016 Do not be deceived, my dearly-loved brethren.
001:017 Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from above,
and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all Light.
In Him there is no variation nor the slightest suggestion of change.
001:018 In accordance with His will He made us His children through
the Message of the truth, so that we might, in a sense,
be the Firstfruits of the things which He has created.
001:019 You know this, my dearly-loved brethren. But let every one
be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to be angry.
001:020 For a man's anger does not lead to action which God
regards as righteous.
001:021 Ridding yourselves, therefore, of all that is vile
and of the evil influences which prevail around you,
welcome in a humble spirit the Message implanted within you,
which is able to save your souls.
001:022 But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be
mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves.
001:023 For if any one listens but does not obey, he is like a man
who carefully looks at his own face in a mirror.
001:024 Although he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away,
and has immediately forgotten the sort of man he is.
001:025 But he who looks closely into the perfect Law--the Law of freedom--
and continues looking, he, being not a hearer who forgets, but an
obedient doer, will as the result of his obedience be blessed.