106 Andrew M. Bowden paragraph is composed in a parallel fashion: the imperatives in vv. 9 and 12 complement each other and center on the motif about speaking properly to avoid judgment. Both consist of vocatives and prohibitory imperatives and both relate to the idea of judgment. Thus, believers should not grumble because the judge is at the door, and they should not swear lest they fall into judgment. The parallelism is seen as follows: v. 9 μὴ στενάζετε, ἀδελφοί, κατ’ ἀλλήλων, ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε· v. 12 πρὸ πάντων δέ, ἀδελφοί μου, μὴ ὀμνύετε … ἵνα μὴ ὑπὸ κρίσιν πέσητε. 2.2.3.2 God Graciously Promises to Restore Sinners who Repent (5,13-20) The second concluding paragraph, consisting of vv. 13-20, begins with interrogatives and concludes with an example about prayer’s effectiveness65. And, like the preceding paragraph, this one exhibits parallelism. Both vv. 13-18 and vv. 19-20 begin with the clause τις ἐν ὑμῖν, both mention sin, and both echo the words σώσει. Finally, as we previously noted, James’ body opening and body conclusion bear striking resemblance. Such a connection links the letter into a coherent whole. 3. Conclusions It is now possible to suggest a comprehensive outline of the letter’s macrostructure — the thought that influences and shapes the author’s choice of words and his construction of sentences and paragraphs. The macrostructure of James reveals that the letter is arranged into 16 paragraphs and in such a way that they comprise the entire discourse. These paragraphs may be outlined by their function in the discourse as follows: James: An Epistle Calling Believers to Repentance for Their Failure to Bear the Fruit of Righteousness. I. Letter Opening/Epistolary Prescript (1,1) II. Letter Body (Bear the Fruit of Righteousness) (1,2 – 5,20) a. Body Opening (Believers are God’s Firstfruits) (1,2-27) On the various interpretations of this paragraph, see my forthcoming article “An 65 Overview of the Interpretive Approaches to James 5,13-18”, in Currents in Biblical Research.