James 2
2
Don't favour the rich and powerful
Warning against having favourites
1My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you won't treat some people better than others. 2Suppose a rich person wearing fine clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings. And suppose a poor person dressed in worn out clothes also comes. 3You must not give the best seat to the one in fine clothes and tell the one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor. 4That is the same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would be acting like a crooked judge.
5My dear friends, pay attention. God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who loves him. 6You ill-treat the poor. But isn't it the rich who boss you around and drag you off to court? 7Aren't they the ones who make fun of your Lord?
8You will do well, if you obey the most important law#2.8 most important law: The Greek text has “royal law”, meaning the one given by the king (that is, God). in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves.#Lv 19.18. 9But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.
10If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all. 11The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but murder someone, you have still broken God's Law.#Ex 20.14; Dt 5.18; Ex 20.13; Dt 5.17.
12Speak and act like people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. 13Do this, because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful!#2.13 But even in judgment, God is merciful!: Or “So be merciful, and you will be shown mercy on the day of judgment.”
Faith and works
14My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? 15If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food, 16you shouldn't just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? 17Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!
18Suppose someone disagrees and says, “It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds.”
I would answer, “Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them.” 19You believe there is only one God. That's fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear.
20Does some stupid person want proof that faith without deeds is useless? 21Well, our ancestor Abraham pleased God by putting his son Isaac on the altar to sacrifice him.#Gn 22.1-14. 22Now you see how Abraham's faith and deeds worked together. He proved that his faith was real by what he did. 23This is what the Scriptures mean by saying, “Abraham had faith in God, and God was pleased with him.” That's how Abraham became God's friend.#Gn 15.6; 2 Ch 20.7; Is 41.8.
24You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe. 25For example, Rahab had been a prostitute. But she pleased God when she welcomed the spies and sent them home by another way.#Js 2.1-21.
26Anyone who doesn't breathe is dead, and faith that doesn't do anything is just as dead!
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jacob (James) 2
2
Honor the Poor Person
1My brothers and sisters, do not hold the faith of our glorious Lord Yeshua the Messiah while showing favoritism.
2For if a man with a gold ring and fine clothes comes into your synagogue, and a poor person in filthy clothes also comes in;
3and you pay special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you say to the poor person, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”;
4haven’t you made distinctions between yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?
6But you have dishonored the poor person. Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
7Don’t they blaspheme the good name by which you were called?
8If, however, you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
9But if you show favoritism, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Torah as transgressors.
10For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
11For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah.
12So speak and act as those who will be judged according to a Torah that gives freedom.
13For judgment is merciless to the one who does not show mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Show Faith with Works
14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
15If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,
16and one of you says to them, “Go in shalom, keep warm and well fed, ” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is that?
17So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works.
19You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder!
20But do you want to know, you empty person, that faith without works is dead?
21Wasn’t Abraham our father proved righteous by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22You see that faith worked together with his works, and by the works his faith was made complete.
23The Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”—and he was called God’s friend.
24You see that a man is proved righteous by works and not by faith alone.
25And likewise, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also proved righteous by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way?
26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
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