¹⁶ So ^(A)the last will be first, and the first last.”

The Great Commandment

^34 (A)But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced ^(B)the Sadducees, they gathered together. ^35 (C)And one of them, ^(D)a lawyer, asked him a question ^(E)to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, ^(F)“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And ^(G)a second is like it: ^(H)You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ^40 (I)On these two commandments depend ^(J)all the Law and the Prophets.”

¹³ For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness ¹⁴ your abundance at the present time should supply ^(A)their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. ¹⁵ As it is written, ^(B)“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

The Sin of Partiality

2 My brothers,^{[a] (A)}show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(B)the Lord of glory. ² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” ^(C)while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become ^(D)judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, ^(E)has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be ^(F)rich in faith and heirs of ^(G)the kingdom, ^(H)which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you ^(I)have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who ^(J)drag you ^(K)into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable ^(L)name by which you were called?

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ^(M)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you ^(N)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point ^(O)has become guilty of all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, ^(P)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^(Q)“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.