³¹ So ^(A)they come to you as people do, they ^(B)sit before you as My people, and they ^(C)hear your words, but they do not do them; ^(D)for with their mouth they show much love, but ^(E)their hearts pursue their own gain.

²² Now ^(A)he who received seed ^(B)among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

²⁸ But He said, ^(A)“More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

¹³ Therefore the Lord said:

²² But ^(A)be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For ^(B)if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

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?

⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was ^[a]founded on the rock. ⁴⁹ But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it ^[b]fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

¹⁷ But ^(A)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸ My little children, ^(B)let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.