Jas 2
1
My brothers, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with
partiality.
2
For if a man enters into your assembly with a gold ring, in fine clothes, and there
should also come in a poor [man] in dirty clothes,
3
and you have respect for him that wears the fine clothes and you say to him, "You
sit here in a good seat,"and say to the poor man, "You stand there,"or, "Sit here
under my footstool,"
4
and so did you not differentiate among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5
Listen, my beloved brothers. Did God not choose the poor of the world [to be] rich
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those that love Him?
6
But you have dishonored the poor. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into court?
7
Do they not blaspheme the noble name by which you are called?
8
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself,"you do well;
9
but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one [point], he has become
guilty of all.
11
For He who said, "Do not commit adultery,"also said, "You shall not murder."Now if
you do not commit adultery, but [yet ]you murder, [then ]you have become a transgressor
of the law.
12
So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
13
For judgment is without mercy to the one who does not show mercy. Mercy triumphs over
judgment.
14
What does it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Is that [kind of] faith able to save him?
15
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16
and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled,"but you do not give
them the necessary things of the body, what [is] the benefit?
17
Thus also that faith, if it does not have works, is dead, [being] by itself.
18
But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works."Show me your faith [apart]
from your works, and I will show you my faith by means of my works.
19
You believe God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe-and they shudder!
20
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the
altar?
22
Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by means of his works
faith was made perfect?
23
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness."And he was called a friend of God.
24
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by means of works, when she received
the messengers and sent [them] out another way?
26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.