self-pity

³And not only that, but we also find glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation exercises patience,

²My brothers, when you have fallen into various trials, consider everything a joy, ³knowing that the proving of your faith exercises patience, ⁴and patience brings a work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole, deficient in nothing. ⁵But if anyone among you is in need of wisdom, let him petition God, who gives abundantly to all without reproach, and it shall be given to him. ⁶But he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved about by the wind and carried away; ⁷then a man should not consider that he would receive anything from the Lord.

²⁸Come to me, all you who labor and have been burdened, and I will refresh you. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is sweet and my burden is light.”

¹³Temptation should not take hold of you, except what is human. For God is faithful, and he will not permit you to be tempted beyond your ability. Instead, he will effect his Providence, even during temptation, so that you may be able to bear it.

⁶Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.

¹⁸Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you.

⁷Cast all your cares upon him, for he takes care of you.

²And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

¹Unto the end. A Psalm of David. How long, O Lord? Will you forget me until the end? How long will you turn your face away from me? ²How long can I take counsel in my soul, sorrowing in my heart throughout the day? ³How long will my enemy be exalted over me? ⁴Look upon me and listen to me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I fall asleep forever in death, ⁵lest at any time my enemy may say, “I have prevailed against him.” Those who trouble me will exult, if I have been disturbed. ⁶But I have hoped in your mercy. My heart will exult in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, who assigns good things to me. And I will sing psalms to the name of the Lord Most High.

⁴Charity is patient, is kind. Charity does not envy, does not act wrongly, is not inflated. ⁵Charity is not ambitious, does not seek for itself, is not provoked to anger, devises no evil. ⁶Charity does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices in truth.

¹³Is any of you sad? Let him pray. Is he even-tempered? Let him sing psalms.

⁵Let your behavior be without avarice; be content with what you are offered. For he himself has said, “I will not abandon you, and I will not neglect you.”

¹James, servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, greetings. ²My brothers, when you have fallen into various trials, consider everything a joy, ³knowing that the proving of your faith exercises patience, ⁴and patience brings a work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole, deficient in nothing. ⁵But if anyone among you is in need of wisdom, let him petition God, who gives abundantly to all without reproach, and it shall be given to him. ⁶But he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved about by the wind and carried away;

²²A joyful soul makes a lifetime flourish. A gloomy spirit dries out the bones.

¹³Everything is possible in him who has strengthened me.

¹⁴Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and confirm me with an unsurpassed spirit.

⁷Therefore, be subject to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

²⁰I live; yet now, it is not I, but truly Christ, who lives in me. And though I live now in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and who delivered himself for me.

¹³Having been pushed, I was overturned so as to fall. But the Lord took me up.

¹⁹Or do you not know that your bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

¹⁴Cursed is the day on which I was born! The day on which my mother gave birth to me: let it not be blessed! ¹⁵Cursed is the man who announced it to my father, saying, ‘A male child has been born to you,’ causing him to rejoice with gladness. ¹⁶Let that man be like the cities that the Lord has overthrown without regret. Let him hear an outcry in the morning, and wailing at the time of midday! ¹⁷So let him be, who did not put me to death from the womb, so that my mother would have been my sepulcher, and her womb would have been my eternal resting place! ¹⁸Why did I depart from the womb, so that I would see hardship and sorrow, and so that my days would be consumed by trouble?”

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.