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
Young's Literal Translation
2 My brethren, hold not, in respect of persons, the faith of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 for if there may come into your synagogue a man with gold ring, in gay raiment, and there may come in also a poor man in vile raiment,
3 and ye may look upon him bearing the gay raiment, and may say to him, `Thou -- sit thou here well,' and to the poor man may say, `Thou -- stand thou there, or, Sit thou here under my footstool,' --
4 ye did not judge fully in yourselves, and did become ill-reasoning judges.
5 Hearken, my brethren beloved, did not God choose the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the reign that He promised to those loving Him?
6 and ye did dishonour the poor one; do not the rich oppress you and themselves draw you to judgment-seats;
7 do they not themselves speak evil of the good name that was called upon you?
8 If, indeed, royal law ye complete, according to the Writing, `Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,' -- ye do well;
9 and if ye accept persons, sin ye do work, being convicted by the law as transgressors;
10 for whoever the whole law shall keep, and shall stumble in one [point], he hath become guilty of all;
11 for He who is saying, `Thou mayest not commit adultery,' said also, `Thou mayest do no murder;' and if thou shalt not commit adultery, and shalt commit murder, thou hast become a transgressor of law;
12 so speak ye and so do, as about by a law of liberty to be judged,
13 for the judgment without kindness [is] to him not having done kindness, and exult doth kindness over judgment.
14 What [is] the profit, my brethren, if faith, any one may speak of having, and works he may not have? is that faith able to save him?
15 and if a brother or sister may be naked, and may be destitute of the daily food,
16 and any one of you may say to them, `Depart ye in peace, be warmed, and be filled,' and may not give to them the things needful for the body, what [is] the profit?
17 so also the faith, if it may not have works, is dead by itself.
18 But say may some one, Thou hast faith, and I have works, shew me thy faith out of thy works, and I will shew thee out of my works my faith:
19 thou -- thou dost believe that God is one; thou dost well, and the demons believe, and they shudder!
20 And dost thou wish to know, O vain man, that the faith apart from the works is dead?
21 Abraham our father -- was not he declared righteous out of works, having brought up Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 dost thou see that the faith was working with his works, and out of the works the faith was perfected?
23 and fulfilled was the Writing that is saying, `And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him -- to righteousness;' and, `Friend of God' he was called.
24 Ye see, then, that out of works is man declared righteous, and not out of faith only;
25 and in like manner also Rahab the harlot -- was she not out of works declared righteous, having received the messengers, and by another way having sent forth?
26 for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also the faith apart from the works is dead.
James 2
New American Standard Bible
The Sin of Partiality
2 (A)My brothers and sisters, (B)do not hold your faith in our (C)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of (D)personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your [a]assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in (E)bright clothes, and a poor man in (F)dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and you [b]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the (G)bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges (H)with evil [c]motives? 5 Listen, (I)my beloved brothers and sisters: did (J)God not choose the poor [d]of this world to be (K)rich in faith and (L)heirs of the kingdom which He (M)promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and [e]personally (N)drag you into [f]court? 7 (O)Do they not blaspheme the good name [g]by which you have been called?
8 If, however, you (P)are fulfilling the [h]royal law according to the Scripture, “(Q)You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you (R)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet (S)stumbles in one point, has become (T)guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “(U)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “(V)Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law. 12 So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by (W)the law of freedom. 13 For (X)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [i]triumphs over judgment.
Faith and Works
14 (Y)What use is it, (Z)my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can [j]that faith save him? 15 (AA)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “(AB)Go in peace, [k]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, (AC)faith also, if it has no works, is [l]dead, being by itself.
18 (AD)But someone [m]may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your (AE)faith without the works, and I will (AF)show you my faith (AG)by my works.” 19 You believe that [n](AH)God is one. (AI)You do well; (AJ)the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to acknowledge, (AK)you foolish person, that (AL)faith without works is useless? 21 (AM)Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (AN)faith was working with his works, and [o]as a result of the (AO)works, faith was [p]perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “(AP)And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a (AQ)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was (AR)Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also (AS)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 (AT)faith without works is dead.
Footnotes
- James 2:2 Or synagogue
- James 2:3 Lit look at
- James 2:4 Lit reasonings
- James 2:5 Lit to the
- James 2:6 Lit they themselves
- James 2:6 Lit courts
- James 2:7 Lit which has been called upon you
- James 2:8 Or law of our King
- James 2:13 Lit boasts against
- 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
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
