James 2

¹ My brothers and sisters, as you trust in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.

² Suppose a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothes comes into your gathering, and a poor man in shabby clothes comes in too.

³ You give special attention to the one dressed in fine clothes and say, “Please sit here in this good place.” But to the poor man you say, “Stand over there,” or, “Sit down by my footstool.”

⁴ Haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges guided by corrupt thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Hasn’t God chosen those who are poor by the world’s standards to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him?

⁶ Yet you have treated the poor man with contempt. Aren’t the rich the ones who mistreat you and haul you into court?

⁷ Aren’t they the ones who insult the honored name by which you are known?

⁸ If you truly keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

⁹ But when you favor some people over others, you sin, and the Law exposes you as lawbreakers.

¹⁰ Anyone who obeys the whole Law but stumbles over a single command is guilty of breaking it all.

¹¹ The one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” So if you avoid adultery but commit murder, you have broken the Law.

¹² Speak and act as people who are going to be judged by the law that brings freedom.

¹³ The person who has shown no mercy will face judgment without mercy. Mercy, however, triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does nothing to show it? Can that kind of faith save them?

¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister has no clothes and lacks the food needed for each day.

¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat well,” but does not provide what their body needs, what good has that done?

¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, without actions, is dead.

¹⁸ Someone may say, “You have faith, and I have actions.” Show me your faith apart from actions, and I will show you my faith through what I do.

¹⁹ You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe that, and shudder.

²⁰ Do you want proof, empty-headed person, that faith without actions accomplishes nothing?

²¹ Wasn’t Abraham, our father, shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

²² You can see that his faith was at work alongside his actions, and that his actions brought his faith to completion.

²³ In this way the Scripture came true: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”; he was also called God’s friend.

²⁴ You see, a person is shown to be righteous through actions, and not through faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also shown to be righteous through her actions when she welcomed the messengers and sent them away by another route?

²⁶ Just as a body without the spirit is dead, faith without actions is dead too.

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