James 2
New King James Version
Beware of Personal Favoritism
2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, (A)the Lord of glory, with (B)partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in [a]fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in [b]filthy clothes, 3 and you [c]pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not [d]shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: (C)Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be (D)rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom (E)which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But (F)you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you (G)and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are (H)called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, (I)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you [e]show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as (J)transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet (K)stumble in one point, (L)he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, (M)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, (N)“Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by (O)the law of liberty. 13 For (P)judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown (Q)no (R)mercy. (S)Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith Without Works Is Dead(T)
14 (U)What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 (V)If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and (W)one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” (X)Show me your faith without [f]your works, (Y)and I will show you my faith by [g]my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [h]dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works (Z)when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see (AA)that faith was working together with his works, and by (AB)works faith was made [i]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, (AC)“Abraham believed God, and it was [j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called (AD)the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, (AE)was not Rahab the harlot also justified by 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.
Footnotes
- James 2:2 bright
- James 2:2 vile
- James 2:3 Lit. look upon
- James 2:4 differentiated
- James 2:9 Lit. receive the face
- James 2:18 NU omits your
- James 2:18 NU omits my
- James 2:20 NU useless
- James 2:22 complete
- James 2:23 credited
James 2
New Living Translation
A Warning against Prejudice
2 My dear brothers and sisters,[a] how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting[b] dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name[c] you bear?
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[d] 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.”[e] So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.[f] Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”[g] He was even called the friend of God.[h] 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath,[i] so also faith is dead without good works.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
