Chapter 2
1 My brothers, don’ t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality .
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 ,
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 "
4 haven’t you shown partiality amongst yourselves , and become judges with evil thoughts ?
5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’ t 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 ?
6 But you have dishonoured the poor man . Don’ t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts ?
7 Don’ t they blaspheme the honourable name by which you are called ?
8 However , if you fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture , " You shall love your neighbour as yourself ," you do well .
9 But if you show partiality , you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors .
10 For whoever keeps the whole law , and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of 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 .
12 So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom .
13 For judgement is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy . Mercy triumphs over judgement.
14 What good is it , my brothers, if a man says he has faith , but has no works ? Can faith save him ?
15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food ,
16 and one of you tells them , " Go in peace . Be warmed and filled ;" yet you didn’ t give them the things the body needs , what good is it ?
17 Even so faith , if it has no works , is dead in itself .
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 .
19 You believe that God is one . You do well . The demons also believe — and shudder .
20 But do you want to know , vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
21 Wasn’ t Abraham our father justified by works , in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar ?
22 You see that faith worked with his works , and by works faith was perfected .
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 .
24 You see then that by works a man is justified , and not only by faith .
25 In the same way , wasn’ t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way ?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead , even so faith apart from works is dead .