Jam 2 | NASB2020 | STEP | My brothers and sisters, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism .

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. 2 For 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, 3 and 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,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges ^jwith evil ^{▼▼Lit reasonings}motives? 5 Listen, ^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? 6 But 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. 9 But if you ^zshow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet ^aastumbles in one point, has become ^abguilty of all. 11 For 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. 12 So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by ^aethe law of freedom. 13 For ^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, 16 and 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? 17 In 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.” 19 You believe that ^{▼▼One early ms there is one God
,} ^avGod is one. ^awYou do well; ^axthe demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But 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? 22 You see that ^bbfaith was working with his works, and ^{▼▼Or by the deeds}as a result of the ^bdworks, faith was ^{▼▼Or completed}perfected; 23 and 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was ^bhRahab the prostitute not justified by works also ^biwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also ^bjfaith without works is dead.