James 2
1 My brothers, do not hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality.
My friends, as trusting believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you must not show favoritism.
2 For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in,
Imagine that a man comes into your synagogue wearing gold rings and fine clothes, and then a poor man comes in dressed in rags.
3 and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”
If you pay special attention to the well-dressed man, and say, “Please sit here in a seat of honor,” while you say to the poor man, “Stand over there, or sit on the floor by my feet,”
4 have not you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
haven't you discriminated and judged with bad motives?
5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
Listen, my dear friends: Didn't God choose those who the world considers poor to be rich in their trust in him, and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts?
But you've treated the poor shamefully. Isn't it the rich who oppress you and drag you before the courts?
7 Do not they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
Don't they insult the honorable name of the one who called you and to whom you belong?
8 However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
If you really observe the royal law of Scripture: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” then you do well.
9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.
But if you show favoritism, you're sinning. The law convicts you as guilty of breaking it.
10 For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
Someone who observes everything in the law but fails in just one part is guilty of breaking it all.
11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
God told you not to commit adultery, and he also told you not to kill. So if you don't commit adultery, but you do kill, you've become a law-breaker.
12 So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom.
You should speak and act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom.
13 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Anyone who doesn't show mercy will be judged without mercy. Yet mercy wins out over judgment!
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?
My friends, what's the good of someone saying they trust in God when they don't do what's good and right? Can such “trust” save them?
15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,
If a brother or sister doesn't have clothes, or food for the day,
16 and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you did not give them the things the body needs, what good is it?
and you say to them, “Blessings on you! Stay warm and have a good meal!” and you don't provide what they need to survive, what's the good of that?
17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
By itself even your trust-based faith in God is dead and worthless if you don't actually do what's good and right.
18 Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Someone may argue, “You have your trust in God; I have my good deeds.” Well, show me your trust in God without good deeds, and I will show you my trust in God by my good deeds!
19 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder.
You believe that God is one God? That's great—but demons believe in God too, and they're scared of him!
20 But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
You foolish people! Don't you know that trust in God without doing what's right is worthless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
Wasn't our father Abraham made right by what he did—by offering his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected.
You notice that his trust in God worked together with what he did, and through what he did his trust in God was made complete.
23 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
In this way scripture was fulfilled: “Abraham trusted God, and this was considered as him doing right,” and he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.
You see that people are made right by what they do, and not just by trusting God.
25 In the same way, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
In the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute made right by what she did when she looked after the messengers and then sent them away by a different road?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
Just as the body is dead without the spirit, trust in God is dead if you don't do what's right.
