Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Chapter 2

Rich and Poor in the Christian Assembly.^{[a] 1} My brethren, since you are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you must never practice favoritism. ² Suppose a man wearing a gold ring and expensive clothes comes into your assembly as well as a poor man dressed in shabby clothes. ³ If you lavish special attention on the one wearing the expensive clothes and say, “Please sit in this good seat,” while to the poor man you say, “Stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor at my feet,” ⁴ have you not shown favoritism among yourselves and judged by wrongful standards?

⁵ Listen to me, my beloved brethren. Did not God choose those who are poor^[b] in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you have humiliated the poor man. Furthermore, is it not the rich who oppress you? Are they not the ones who drag you into court? ⁷ Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you?

⁸ You will be doing well if you truly observe the sovereign law enjoined in Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁹ However, if you show partiality, you are committing a sin and stand convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever observes the whole Law but trips up on a single point is held guilty of breaking all of it.

¹¹ The one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not kill.” Now if you do not commit adultery but you do kill, you have become a lawbreaker. ¹² Therefore, always speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of freedom. ¹³ For judgment will be without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy, but mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴ True Faith Is Proved by Works.^[c] What good is it, my brethren, if someone claims to have faith but does not have good works? Can such faith save him? ^15 [d]Suppose a brother or sister is naked and lacks his or her daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to such a person, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat well,” but does not take care of that person’s physical needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it does not have works.

¹⁸ But perhaps someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and by works I will show you my faith. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. You do well to assert that. But even the demons believe and tremble.

²⁰ You fool! Do you want proof that faith without works is futile? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² Thus, you can see that his faith and his works were active together; his faith was brought to completion by works.

²³ Thus, the words of Scripture were fulfilled that say, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴ You can see, then, that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

²⁵ Likewise, Rahab the prostitute,^[e] was she not also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them away by a different road? ²⁶ For just as the body is dead without a spirit, so faith without works is also dead.

Exhortation To Practice Christian Living

Chapter 3

Avoid Faults of the Tongue.^{[f] 1} My brethren, not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we will face a more severe judgment. ² For all of us fall short in many ways. Anyone who never makes a mistake in speech has reached perfection^[g] and is able to control every part of his body.

³ When we put a bit into a horse’s mouth to make it obey us, we also guide its entire body. ⁴ Or think of ships. Even though they are large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder on whatever course the helmsman chooses. ⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small member but its pretensions are great.

Consider how a small fire can set ablaze a great forest. ⁶ And the tongue is also a fire, a world of evil that infects the entire body. It sets afire the entire course of our existence and is itself set on fire by Gehenna.

⁷ For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by man, ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.^[h]

¹⁰ Out of the same mouth flow blessings and curses. This should not be so, my brethren. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives or can a grapevine produce figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh water.

¹³ True Wisdom and Its Opposite.^[i] Who among you is wise and understanding? Prove by your good life that your works are done with the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if your hearts are filled with bitter envy and selfish ambition, do not be boastful in defiance of the truth.

¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. ¹⁶ For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disharmony and every type of wickedness.

¹⁷ However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, and considerate, full of mercy and good fruits, without any trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who are peacemakers.