^31 (A)And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for ^(B)with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.

²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^(A)the cares of ^(B)the world and ^(C)the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

²⁸ But he said, ^(A)“Blessed rather are those ^(B)who hear the word of God and ^(C)keep it!”

²² But be ^(A)doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

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 But ^(A)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(B)closes his heart against him, ^(C)how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not ^(D)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(E)in truth.

⁹ But ^(A)those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, ^(B)into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that ^(C)plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of ^(D)all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.