James 2
1 My friends, are you really trying to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with discrimination?
My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.
2 Suppose a visitor should enter your synagogue, with gold rings and in grand clothes, and suppose a poor man should come in also, in shabby clothes,
Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
3 and you show more respect to the visitor who is wearing grand clothes, and say – “There is a good seat for you here,” but to the poor man – “You must stand; or sit down there by my footstool,”
If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”
4 Haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves, and used evil standards of judgement?
have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear friends. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the things of this world to be rich through their faith, and to possess the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
6 But you – you insult the poor man! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you? Isn’t it they who drag you into law courts?
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
7 Isn’t it they who malign that honorable name spoken over you at your baptism?
Are they not the ones who blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called?
8 If you keep the royal law which runs – ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself,’ you are doing right;
If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
9 but, if you discriminate, you commit a sin, and stand convicted by that same law of being offenders against it.
But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10 For a person who has laid the Law, as a whole, to heart, but has failed in one particular, is accountable for breaking all its provisions.
Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
11 He who said ‘You must not commit adultery’ also said ‘You must not murder.’ If, then, you commit murder but not adultery, you are still an offender against the Law.
For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12 Therefore, speak and act as people who are to be judged by the ‘Law of freedom.’
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.
13 For there will be justice without mercy for the person who has not acted mercifully. Mercy triumphs over Justice.
For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
14 My friends, what good is it if someone claims that they have faith, but they do not prove it by actions? Can such faith save them?
What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
15 Suppose some brother or sister should be in need of clothes and of daily bread,
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
16 and one of you says to them – “Go, and peace be with you; keep warm and eat well!” and yet you do not actually give them the necessities of life, what good would it be to them?
If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?
17 In just the same way faith, if not followed by actions, is, by itself, a lifeless thing.
So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
18 Someone, indeed, may say – “You are a man of faith, and I am a man of action.” “Then show me your faith,” I reply, “apart from any actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions.”
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
19 It is a part of your faith, is it not, that there is one God? Good; yet even the demons have that faith, and tremble at the thought.
You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 Now do you really want to understand, fool, how it is that faith without actions leads to nothing?
O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?
21 Look at our ancestor, Abraham. Was he not justified by his actions after he had offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?
Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see how, in his case, faith and actions went together; that his faith was perfected as the result of his actions;
You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did.
23 and that in this way the words of scripture came true – “Abraham believed God, and that was regarded by God as righteousness,” and “He was called the friend of God.”
And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
24 You see, then, that a person is justified by actions, and not by faith alone.
As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone.
25 Wasn’t it the same with the prostitute, Rahab? Was she not justified by her actions, after she had welcomed the messengers and helped them escape by another road?
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?
26 Just as a body is dead without a spirit, so faith is dead without actions.
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
