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James 2
Complete Jewish Bible
James 2
Complete Jewish Bible
2 My brothers, practice the faith of our Lord Yeshua, the glorious Messiah, without showing favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your synagogue wearing gold rings and fancy clothes, and also a poor man comes in dressed in rags. 3 If you show more respect to the man wearing the fancy clothes and say to him, “Have this good seat here,” while to the poor man you say, “You, stand over there,” or, “Sit down on the floor by my feet,” 4 then aren’t you creating distinctions among yourselves, and haven’t you made yourselves into judges with evil motives?
5 Listen, my dear brothers, hasn’t God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to receive the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? 6 But you despise the poor! Aren’t the rich the ones who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who insult the good name of Him to whom you belong? 8 If you truly attain the goal of Kingdom Torah, in conformity with the passage that says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] you are doing well. 9 But if you show favoritism, your actions constitute sin, since you are convicted under the Torah as transgressors.
10 For a person who keeps the whole Torah, yet stumbles at one point, has become guilty of breaking them all. 11 For the One who said, “Don’t commit adultery,”[b] also said, “Don’t murder.”[c] Now, if you don’t commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah.
12 Keep speaking and acting like people who will be judged by a Torah which gives freedom. 13 For judgment will be without mercy toward one who doesn’t show mercy; but mercy wins out over judgment.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no actions to prove it? Is such “faith” able to save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, 16 and someone says to him, “Shalom! Keep warm and eat hearty!” without giving him what he needs, what good does it do? 17 Thus, faith by itself, unaccompanied by actions, is dead.
18 But someone will say that you have faith and I have actions. Show me this faith of yours without the actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions! 19 You believe that “God is one”?[d] Good for you! The demons believe it too — the thought makes them shudder with fear!
20 But, foolish fellow, do you want to be shown that such “faith” apart from actions is barren? 21 Wasn’t Avraham avinu declared righteous because of actions when he offered up his son Yitz’chak on the altar? 22 You see that his faith worked with his actions; by the actions the faith was made complete; 23 and the passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled which says, “Avraham had faith in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness.”[e] He was even called God’s friend.[f] 24 You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone.
25 Likewise, wasn’t Rachav the prostitute also declared righteous because of actions when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another route? 26 Indeed, just as the body without a spirit is dead, so too faith without actions is dead.
Footnotes
- James 2:8 Leviticus 19:18
- James 2:11 Exodus 20:13(14); Deuteronomy 5:17(18)
- James 2:11 Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17
- James 2:19 Deuteronomy 6:4
- James 2:23 Genesis 15:6
- James 2:23 Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chronicles 20:7
Yaakov 2
Orthodox Jewish Bible
Yaakov 2
Orthodox Jewish Bible
2 My Achim b’Moshiach, you do not with your acts of maso panim (favoritism) hold to the [orthodox Jewish] emunah of the glorious Adoneinu Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua. [DEVARIM 1:17; VAYIKRA 19:15; MISHLE 24:23]
2 For if there enter into your Beit HaKnesset (House of Assembly, shul, synagogue, shtibel) a man with gold rings on his fingers in expensive bekeshe (kaftan) and shtreimel, and there enters also an underpriviledged nebach, a kabtzen (poor person) in shmattes (rags),
3 and you pay special attention to the takif [influential man] wearing the bekeshe and shtreimel and say, "You sit here in the seat of kibbud (respect, honor), and to the kabtzen (pauper) you say, "You stand there." Or "You sit at my feet,"
4 did you not among yourselves differentiate with prejudice and became shofetim (judges) with machshavot re’sha (evil thoughts)?
5 Hinei! My beloved Achim b’Moshiach, did not Der Oybershter make the Aniyim of the Olam Hazeh in fact Bechirim of Hashem to be rich in emunah and also yoreshim of the Malchut Hashem, which Adoshem gave as a havtachah (promise) to those with Ahavas Hashem? [IYOV 34:19]
6 But you dishonored the ish evyon (poor man, pauper). Do not the oishirim (rich ones) oppress you and they drag you into the Batei Din (Bet Din courts)?
7 Do they not commit Chillul Hashem gidduf (blasphemy) against the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach’s Shem Tov that has been named upon you?
8 If indeed you are shomer regarding the Dat HaMalkhut (Royal Decree), as it is written in the Kitvei Hakodesh, "V’AHAVTAH L’REI’ACHA KAMOCHA" ("And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." [VAYIKRA 19:18]) you do well.
9 But if you show maso panim (favoritism), you are chote’im (sinners) committing averos (transgressions) against the Torah. [DEVARIM 1:17]
10 For whoever is shomer over kol haTorah but stumbles in one mitzvah, such is condemned as ashem (guilty) of averoh (transgression) of kol mitzvot.
11 For the One having said, LO TINAF ("You shall not commit adultery") said also LO TIRTZACH ("You shall not murder"). Now if you do not commit adultery but you do murder, you have become a Poshei’a al mitzvot HaTorah (Transgressor of the Torah). [SHEMOT 20:13,14; DEVARIM 5:17,18]
12 So let your dvarim (words) be and so let your ma’asim (deeds) be as those who are about to come under the judgment of the Torah HaCherut [1:25].
13 For the Din (Judgment) will be without rachamim (mercy) to the one not having shown rachamim. Rachamim wins the nitzachon (victory) over HaDin.
14 What is the revach (gain, profit), my Achim b’Moshiach, if anyone claims to have emunah but does not have ma’asim (deeds)? Surely not such "emunah" is able to bring him to Yeshu’at Eloheinu?
15 If an Ach b’Moshiach or an Achot b’Moshiach is dressed in shmattes (tatters) and lacking "lechem chukeinu" ("our daily bread," Mt.6:11)
16 and anyone of you says to them, "Go in shalom! Be warmed and fed!" but you do not give to them the physical necessities, what is the revach (profit)?
17 So also Emunah, if alongside it there is not in its company Ma’asim, is by itself niftar (deceased, dead).
18 But someone will say, "You have emunah and I have ma’asim." You make known to me the Hisgalus haSod (the revelation of the mystery) of your emunah without your ma’asim, and I’ll show you, Chaver, from my ma’asim, the Emunah.
19 So you’re impressed with yourselves that with your emunah you can recite the kri’at Shema, nu? O you do so well...why, even the shedim have your da’as and emunah! But they shudder! [DEVARIM 6:4]
20 Are you willing to have da’as, O hollow man, that Emunah unharnessed to Ma’asim, stands idle?
21 Avraham Avinu, was he not YITZDAK IM HASHEM (justified with G-d) by his ma’asim when he performed the akedah (binding) and offered up Yitzchak Bno (Isaac his son) upon the mizbe’ach? [BERESHIS 22:9,12]
22 Hinei! While Avraham Avinu’s Emunah was working, working right alongside was Avraham Avinu’s Ma’asim, and by Ma’asim the emunah was made shleimah!
23 And the Kitvei Hakodesh was fulfilled, Avraham Avinu V’HE’EMIN BA’HASHEM VAYACHSHEVE’HA LO TZEDAKAH ("believed Hashem and it was accounted to him for righteousness," BERESHIS 15:6). He was even called "Ohev Hashem" ("Friend of G-d"). [BERESHIS 15:6; YESHAYAH 41:8; DIVREY HAYOMIM BAIS 20:7]
24 You see that from Ma’asim [of Emunah] a man is YITZDAK IM HASHEM and not from [sterilely unpartnered] “Emunah” alone. [i.e., mere intellectual assent]
25 And likewise also Rachav the Zonah—was she not made YITZDAK IM HASHEM from Ma’asim, having received the messengers and having sent them out a different way?
26 For just as the guf (body) without the neshamah is niftar (deceased, dead), so also is Emunah without Ma’asim.
James 2
New International Version
James 2
New International Version
Favoritism Forbidden
2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious(A) Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.(B) 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges(C) with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters:(D) Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world(E) to be rich in faith(F) and to inherit the kingdom(G) he promised those who love him?(H) 6 But you have dishonored the poor.(I) Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?(J) 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a](K) you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism,(L) you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.(M) 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles(N) at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.(O) 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”[b](P) also said, “You shall not murder.”[c](Q) If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged(R) by the law that gives freedom,(S) 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.(T) Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith and Deeds
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?(U) Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.(V) 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?(W) 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.(X)
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds,(Y) and I will show you my faith(Z) by my deeds.(AA) 19 You believe that there is one God.(AB) Good! Even the demons believe that(AC)—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]?(AD) 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?(AE) 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together,(AF) and his faith was made complete by what he did.(AG) 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[e](AH) and he was called God’s friend.(AI) 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?(AJ) 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.(AK)
Footnotes
- James 2:8 Lev. 19:18
- James 2:11 Exodus 20:14; Deut. 5:18
- James 2:11 Exodus 20:13; Deut. 5:17
- James 2:20 Some early manuscripts dead
- James 2:23 Gen. 15:6
James 2
New Matthew Bible
James 2
New Matthew Bible
He forbids them to have any respect of persons, but to regard the poor as well as the rich, to be loving and merciful, and not to boast of faith where no deeds are. For it is but a dead faith where good works do not follow.
2 Brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, in respect of persons. 2 If there comes into your company a man with a golden ring and in goodly apparel, and there comes in also a poor man in wretched clothing, 3 and you have a respect to him who wears the fine clothing, and say to him, Sit here in a good place, but say to the poor, Stand there, or, Sit here by my footstool, 4 are you not partial among yourselves, and have judged after evil thoughts?
5 Hearken, my dear beloved brethren. Has not God chosen the poor of this world, who are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonoured the poor. Are not the rich those who oppress you, and who draw you before judges? 7 Do they not speak evil of that good name after which you are named?
8 If you fulfil the royal law according to the scripture that says, You shall love your neighbour as yourself – you do well. 9 But if you regard one person more than another, you commit sin, and are rebuked by the law as transgressors. 10 Whoever keeps the whole law, and yet fails in one point, is guilty in all. 11 For he who said: You shall not commit adultery, said also: You shall not kill. Though you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you are a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For there will be judgment merciless to him who shows no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.
14 What avails it, my brethren, though a person say he has faith, when he has no deeds? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or a sister is without proper clothing, or destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, Depart in peace; may God send you warmth and food – and notwithstanding, you do not give them those things that are needful to the body, what help is it? 17 Even so faith, if it has no deeds, is dead in itself.
18 Yea, and someone might say, You have faith, and I have deeds; show me your faith by your deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 Do you believe that there is one God? You do well. The devils also believe, and tremble.
20 Will you understand, O vain man, that faith without deeds is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified through works when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 You see that faith operated with his deeds, and through the deeds, the faith was made perfect. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says: Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then how by deeds a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also, was not Rahab the harlot justified through works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without deeds is dead.
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