Beware of Personal Favoritism

2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Lord of glory, with ^(B)partiality. ² For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in ^[a]fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in ^[b]filthy clothes, ³ and you ^[c]pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴ have you not ^[d]shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my beloved brethren: ^(C)Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be ^(D)rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom ^(E)which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But ^(F)you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you ^(G)and drag you into the courts? ⁷ Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are ^(H)called?

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ^(I)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; ⁹ but if you ^[e]show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as ^(J)transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet ^(K)stumble in one point, ^(L)he is guilty of all. ¹¹ For He who said, ^(M)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^(N)“Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so do as those who will be judged by ^(O)the law of liberty. ¹³ For ^(P)judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown ^(Q)no ^(R)mercy. ^(S)Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead^(T)

^14 (U)What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ^15 (V)If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and ^(W)one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” ^(X)Show me your faith without ^[f]your works, ^(Y)and I will show you my faith by ^[g]my works. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is ^[h]dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works ^(Z)when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² Do you see ^(AA)that faith was working together with his works, and by ^(AB)works faith was made ^[i]perfect? ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ^(AC)“Abraham believed God, and it was ^[j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called ^(AD)the friend of God. ²⁴ You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

²⁵ Likewise, ^(AE)was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

²⁷ But ^(A)God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

The Law Brings a Curse

¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ^(A)“Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”

^18 (A)You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, ^(B)but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my ^(A)vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, ^(B)“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³² For ^(C)John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; ^(D)but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward ^[a]relent and believe him.