26 If anyone [a]among you thinks he is religious, and (A)does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 (B)Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: (C)to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, (D)and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

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Footnotes

  1. James 1:26 NU omits among you

26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not [a](A)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion (B)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to (C)visit (D)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [b]by (E)the world.

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Footnotes

  1. James 1:26 Or control
  2. James 1:27 Lit from

26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious [scrupulously observant of the rituals of his faith], and does not control his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless (futile, barren). 27 Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.

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26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues(A) deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after(B) orphans and widows(C) in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.(D)

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26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

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