James 2
2
Warning against Partiality
1My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8 #
Lev 19.18. If ye fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: 9but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11#Exod 20.14; Deut 5.18; Exod 20.13; Deut 5.17. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
Faith without Works Is Dead
14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. 19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21#Gen 22.1-14. Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23#Gen 15.6; 2 Chr 20.7; Isa 41.8. And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed unto him for righteousness:
and he was called the Friend of God. 24Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25#Josh 2.1-21. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26For as the body without the spirit#2.26 Or, breath. is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
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James 2: KJVAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Ya'akov (Jas) 2
2
1My brothers, practice the faith of our Lord Yeshua, the glorious Messiah, without showing favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your synagogue wearing gold rings and fancy clothes, and also a poor man comes in dressed in rags. 3If you show more respect to the man wearing the fancy clothes and say to him, “Have this good seat here,” while to the poor man you say, “You, stand over there,” or, “Sit down on the floor by my feet,” 4then aren’t you creating distinctions among yourselves, and haven’t you made yourselves into judges with evil motives?
5Listen, my dear brothers, hasn’t God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to receive the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? 6But you despise the poor! Aren’t the rich the ones who oppress you and drag you into court? 7Aren’t they the ones who insult the good name of Him to whom you belong? 8If you truly attain the goal of Kingdom Torah, in conformity with the passage that says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you show favoritism, your actions constitute sin, since you are convicted under the Torah as transgressors.
10For a person who keeps the whole Torah, yet stumbles at one point, has become guilty of breaking them all. 11For the One who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” Now, if you don’t commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah.
12Keep speaking and acting like people who will be judged by a Torah which gives freedom. 13For judgment will be without mercy toward one who doesn’t show mercy; but mercy wins out over judgment.
14What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no actions to prove it? Is such “faith” able to save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, 16and someone says to him, “Shalom! Keep warm and eat hearty!” without giving him what he needs, what good does it do? 17Thus, faith by itself, unaccompanied by actions, is dead.
18But someone will say that you have faith and I have actions. Show me this faith of yours without the actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions! 19You believe that “God is one”? Good for you! The demons believe it too — the thought makes them shudder with fear!
20But, foolish fellow, do you want to be shown that such “faith” apart from actions is barren? 21Wasn’t Avraham avinu declared righteous because of actions when he offered up his son Yitz’chak on the altar? 22You see that his faith worked with his actions; by the actions the faith was made complete; 23and the passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled which says, “Avraham had faith in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness.” He was even called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone.
25Likewise, wasn’t Rachav the prostitute also declared righteous because of actions when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another route? 26Indeed, just as the body without a spirit is dead, so too faith without actions is dead.
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