‏ James 2

The Sin of Partiality

1 aMy brothers and sisters, bdo not hold your faith in our cglorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of dpersonal favoritism. 2For if a man comes into your
Or synagogue
assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in fbright clothes, and a poor man in gdirty clothes also comes in,
3and you
Lit look at
pay special attention to the one who is wearing the ibright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges jwith evil
Lit reasonings
motives?
5Listen, lmy beloved brothers and sisters: did mGod not choose the poor
Lit to the
of this world to be orich in faith and pheirs of the kingdom which He qpromised to those who love Him?
6But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and
Lit they themselves
personally sdrag you into
Lit courts
court?
7 uDo they not blaspheme the good name
Lit which has been called upon you
by which you have been called?

8 If, however, you ware fulfilling the
Or law of our King
royal law according to the Scripture, “ yYou shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
9But if you zshow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. 10For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet aastumbles in one point, has become abguilty of all. 11For He who said, “ acDo not commit adultery,” also said, “ adDo not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law. 12So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by aethe law of freedom. 13For afjudgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy
Lit boasts against
triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works

14 ahWhat use is it, aimy brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can
Lit the
that faith save him?
15 akIf a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “ alGo in peace,
Or warm yourselves and fill yourselves
be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17In the same way, anfaith also, if it has no works, is
Or dead by its own standards
dead, being by itself.

18 apBut someone
Lit will
may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your arfaith without the works, and I will asshow you my faith atby my works.”
19You believe that
One early ms there is one God
avGod is one. awYou do well; axthe demons also believe, and shudder.
20But are you willing to acknowledge, ayyou foolish person, that azfaith without works is useless? 21 baWas our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that bbfaith was working with his works, and
Or by the deeds
as a result of the bdworks, faith was
Or completed
perfected;
23and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “ bfAnd Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a bgfriend of God. 24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was bhRahab the prostitute not justified by works also biwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also bjfaith without works is dead.
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