James 2:14-26

Common English Bible

Showing faith

¹⁴My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? ¹⁵Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. ¹⁶What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? ¹⁷In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.

¹⁸Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. ¹⁹It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear. ²⁰Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? ²¹What about Abraham, our father? Wasn’t he shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions. ²³So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and God regarded him as righteous.^[a] What is more, Abraham was called God’s friend. ²⁴So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone. ²⁵In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous when she received the messengers as her guests and then sent them on by another road? ²⁶As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead.

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Footnotes

James 2:23 Gen 15:6

Psalm 112

Common English Bible

Psalm 112^[a]

112 Praise the Lord!
    Those who honor the Lord,
    who adore God’s commandments, are truly happy!
²Their descendants will be strong throughout the land.
    The offspring of those who do right will be blessed;
³    wealth and riches will be in their houses.
    Their righteousness stands forever.
⁴They shine in the dark for others who do right.
    They are merciful, compassionate, and righteous.
⁵Those who lend generously are good people—
    as are those who conduct their affairs with justice.
⁶Yes, these sorts of people will never be shaken;
    the righteous will be remembered forever!
⁷They won’t be frightened at bad news.
    Their hearts are steady, trusting in the Lord.
⁸Their hearts are firm; they aren’t afraid.
    In the end, they will witness their enemies’ defeat.
⁹They give freely to those in need.
    Their righteousness stands forever.
    Their strength increases gloriously.
¹⁰The wicked see all this and fume;
        they grind their teeth, but disappear to nothing.
    What the wicked want to see happen comes to nothing!

Footnotes

Psalm 112:1 Ps 112 is an alphabetic acrostic poem; see the note at Pss 9–10.

Mark 8:34-9:1

Common English Bible

³⁴After calling the crowd together with his disciples, Jesus said to them, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. ³⁵All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them. ³⁶Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? ³⁷What will people give in exchange for their lives? ³⁸Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Human One^[a] will be ashamed of that person when he comes in the Father’s glory with the holy angels.” 9 ¹Jesus continued, “I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see God’s kingdom arrive in power.”