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?

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave^[a] and free, ^(A)hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ^16 (B)calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of ^(C)him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for ^(D)the great day of their wrath has come, and ^(E)who can stand?”

⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰ and ^(A)the rich in his humiliation, because ^(B)like a flower of the grass^[a] he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and ^(C)withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.