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James 2:14-26
New International Version
James 2:14-26
New International Version
Faith and Deeds
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?(A) Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.(B) 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?(C) 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.(D)
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds,(E) and I will show you my faith(F) by my deeds.(G) 19 You believe that there is one God.(H) Good! Even the demons believe that(I)—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]?(J) 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?(K) 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together,(L) and his faith was made complete by what he did.(M) 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[b](N) and he was called God’s friend.(O) 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?(P) 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.(Q)
Footnotes
- James 2:20 Some early manuscripts dead
- James 2:23 Gen. 15:6
James 2:14-26
New King James Version
James 2:14-26
New King James Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead(A)
14 (B)What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 (C)If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and (D)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.” (E)Show me your faith without [a]your works, (F)and I will show you my faith by [b]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 [c]dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works (G)when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see (H)that faith was working together with his works, and by (I)works faith was made [d]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, (J)“Abraham believed God, and it was [e]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called (K)the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, (L)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.
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- 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 2:14-26
New American Standard Bible
James 2:14-26
New American Standard Bible
Faith and Works
14 (A)What use is it, (B)my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can [a]that faith save him? 15 (C)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “(D)Go in peace, [b]be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, (E)faith also, if it has no works, is [c]dead, being by itself.
18 (F)But someone [d]may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your (G)faith without the works, and I will (H)show you my faith (I)by my works.” 19 You believe that [e](J)God is one. (K)You do well; (L)the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to acknowledge, (M)you foolish person, that (N)faith without works is useless? 21 (O)Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (P)faith was working with his works, and [f]as a result of the (Q)works, faith was [g]perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “(R)And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a (S)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was (T)Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also (U)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also (V)faith without works is dead.
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- James 2:14 Lit the
- James 2:16 Or warm yourselves and fill yourselves
- James 2:17 Or dead by its own standards
- James 2:18 Lit will
- James 2:19 One early ms there is one God
- James 2:22 Or by the deeds
- James 2:22 Or completed
James 2:14-26
The Message
James 2:14-26
The Message
Faith in Action
14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18 I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that weave of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.
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James 2:14-26
English Standard Version
James 2:14-26
English Standard Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith (A)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 (B)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 (C)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith (D)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith (E)by my works. 19 (F)You believe that God is one; you do well. Even (G)the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 (H)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (I)faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed (J)by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, (K)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a (L)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also (M)Rahab the prostitute justified by works (N)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
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- James 2:16 Or benefit
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.