Iacobi 2
1 Fratres mei, nolite in personarum acceptione habere fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi gloriæ.
My Brothers, are you really trying to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the worship of rank?
2 Etenim si introierit in conventum vestrum vir aureum annulum habens in veste candida, introierit autem et pauper in sordido habitu,
Suppose a man should enter your Synagogue, with gold rings and in grand clothes, and suppose a poor man should come in also, in shabby clothes,
3 et intendatis in eum qui indutus est veste præclara, et dixeritis ei: Tu sede hic bene: pauperi autem dicatis: Tu sta illic; aut sede sub scabello pedum meorum:
and you are deferential to the man 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,”
4 nonne judicatis apud vosmetipsos, et facti estis judices cogitationum iniquarum?
Is not that to make distinctions among yourselves, and show yourselves prejudiced judges?
5 Audite, fratres mei dilectissimi: nonne Deus elegit pauperes in hoc mundo, divites in fide, et hæredes regni, quod repromisit Deus diligentibus se?
Listen, my dear Brothers. 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?
6 vos autem exhonorastis pauperem. Nonne divites per potentiam opprimunt vos, et ipsi trahunt vos ad judicia?
But you — you insult the poor man! Is not it the rich who oppress you? Is not it they who drag you into law-courts?
7 nonne ipsi blasphemant bonum nomen, quod invocatum est super vos?
Is not it they who malign that honourable Name which has been bestowed upon you?
8 Si tamen legem perficitis regalem secundum Scripturas: Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum: bene facitis:
Yet, if you keep the royal law which runs — ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thou dost thyself,’ you are doing right;
9 si autem personas accipitis, peccatum operamini, redarguti a lege quasi transgressores.
but, if you worship rank, you commit a sin, and stand convicted by that same law of being offenders against it.
10 Quicumque autem totam legem servaverit, offendat autem in uno, factus est omnium reus.
For a man who has laid the Law, as a whole, to heart, but has failed in one particular, is liable for breaking all its provisions.
11 Qui enim dixit: Non mœchaberis, dixit et: Non occides. Quod si non mœchaberis, occides autem, factus es transgressor legis.
He who said ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’ also said ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ If, then, you commit murder but not adultery, you are still an offender against the Law.
12 Sic loquimini, et sic facite sicut per legem libertatis incipientes judicari.
Therefore, speak and act as men who are to be judged by the ‘Law of Freedom.’
13 Judicium enim sine misericordia illi qui non fecit misericordiam: superexaltat autem misericordia judicium.
For there will be justice without mercy for him who has not acted mercifully. Mercy triumphs over Justice.
14 Quid proderit, fratres mei, si fidem quis dicat se habere, opera autem non habeat? numquid poterit fides salvare eum?
My Brothers, what is the good of a man’s saying that he has faith, if he does not prove it by actions? Can such faith save him?
15 Si autem frater et soror nudi sint, et indigeant victu quotidiano,
Suppose some Brother or Sister should be in want of clothes and of daily bread,
16 dicat autem aliquis ex vobis illis: Ite in pace, calefacimini et saturamini: non dederitis autem eis quæ necessaria sunt corpori, quid proderit?
and one of you were to say to them — “Go, and peace be with you; find warmth and food for yourselves,” and yet you were not to give them the necessaries of life, what good would it be to them?
17 Sic et fides, si non habeat opera, mortua est in semetipsa.
In just the same way faith, if not followed by actions, is, by itself, a lifeless thing.
18 Sed dicet quis: Tu fidem habes, et ego opera habeo: ostende mihi fidem tuam sine operibus: et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam.
Some one, 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.”
19 Tu credis quoniam unus est Deus: bene facis: et dæmones credunt, et contremiscunt.
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.
20 Vis autem scire, o homo inanis, quoniam fides sine operibus mortua est?
Now do you really want to understand, you foolish man, how it is that faith without actions leads to nothing?
21 Abraham pater noster nonne ex operibus justificatus est, offerens Isaac filium suum super altare?
Look at our ancestor, Abraham. Was not it the result of his actions that he was pronounced righteous after he had offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?
22 Vides quoniam fides cooperabatur operibus illius: et ex operibus fides consummata est?
You see how, in his case, faith and actions went together; that his faith was perfected as the result of his actions;
23 Et suppleta est Scriptura, dicens: Credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam, et amicus Dei appellatus est.
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.”
24 Videtis quoniam ex operibus justificatur homo, et non ex fide tantum?
You see, then, that it is as the result of his actions that a man is pronounced righteous, and not of his faith only.
25 Similiter et Rahab meretrix, nonne ex operibus justificata est, suscipiens nuntios, et alia via ejiciens?
Was not it the same with the prostitute, Rahab? Was not it as the result of her actions that she was pronounced righteous, after she had welcomed the messengers and hastened them away by a different road?
26 Sicut enim corpus sine spiritu mortuum est, ita et fides sine operibus mortua est.
Exactly as a body is dead without a spirit, so faith is dead without actions.
