James 2

Tree of Life Version

Honor the Poor Person

2 My brothers and sisters, do not hold the faith of our glorious Lord Yeshua the Messiah while showing favoritism. ^{[a] 2} For if a man with a gold ring and fine clothes comes into your synagogue, and a poor person in filthy clothes also comes in; ³ and you pay special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you say to the poor person, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”; ⁴ haven’t you made distinctions between yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor person. Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? ⁷ Don’t they blaspheme the good name by which you were called? ⁸ If, however, you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Torah as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. ¹¹ For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah. ^{[b] 12} So speak and act as those who will be judged according to a Torah that gives freedom. ¹³ For judgment is merciless to the one who does not show mercy.^[c] Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Show Faith with Works

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in shalom, keep warm and well fed,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is that? ¹⁷ So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder! ²⁰ But do you want to know, you empty person, that faith without works is dead? ²¹ Wasn’t Abraham our father proved righteous by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? ²² You see that faith worked together with his works, and by the works his faith was made complete. ²³ The Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”^[d]—and he was called God’s friend. ^{[e] 24} You see that a man is proved righteous by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And likewise, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also proved righteous by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way? ^{[f] 26} For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.