God Is Our Fortress

To the choirmaster. Of ^(A)the Sons of Korah. According to ^(B)Alamoth.^[a] A Song.

Daniel Taken to Babylon

1 In the third year of ^(A)the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of ^(B)the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to ^(C)the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, ^(D)and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. ³ Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ^(E)his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family^[a] and of ^(F)the nobility, ⁴ youths without ^(G)blemish, of good appearance and ^(H)skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to ^(I)teach them the literature and language of the ^(J)Chaldeans. ⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of ^(K)the food that the king ate, and of ^(L)the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for ^(M)three years, and at the end of that time they were to ^(N)stand before the king. ⁶ Among these were ^(O)Daniel, ^(P)Hananiah, ^(Q)Mishael, and ^(R)Azariah of the tribe of Judah. ⁷ And ^(S)the chief of the eunuchs ^(T)gave them names: ^(U)Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel's Faithfulness

⁸ But Daniel ^(V)resolved that he would not ^(W)defile himself with ^(X)the king's food, or with ^(Y)the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^(Z)defile himself. ^9 (AA)And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰ and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” ¹¹ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Test your servants for ^(AB)ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat ^(AC)the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” ¹⁴ So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵ At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate ^(AD)the king's food. ^16 (AE)So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^(AF)vegetables.

¹⁷ As for these four youths, ^(AG)God gave them learning and ^(AH)skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^(AI)understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸ At the end of ^(AJ)the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore ^(AK)they stood before the king. ²⁰ And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^(AL)the magicians and ^(AM)enchanters that were in all his kingdom. ²¹ And Daniel ^(AN)was there until the first year of ^(AO)King Cyrus.

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. ¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under ^(R)the law of liberty. ¹³ For ^(S)judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith ^(T)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ^15 (U)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ^16 (V)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good^[b] is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith ^(W)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^(X)by my works. ^19 (Y)You believe that God is one; you do well. Even ^(Z)the demons believe—and shudder! ²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ^21 (AA)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that ^(AB)faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed ^(AC)by his works; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ^(AD)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a ^(AE)friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way was not also ^(AF)Rahab the prostitute justified by works ^(AG)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.