James, 2

1. My brothers, do not let class distinction enter into your faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord.

1. My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

2. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, well-dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes,

2. For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,

3. and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, 'Come this way to the best seats'; then you tell the poor man, 'Stand over there' or 'You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.'

3. and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "Have a seat here, please," while you say to the poor man, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet,"

4. In making this distinction among yourselves have you not used a corrupt standard?

4. have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

5. Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

5. Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?

6. You, on the other hand, have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who lord it over you?

6. But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court?

7. Are not they the ones who drag you into court, who insult the honourable name which has been pronounced over you?

7. Is it not they who blaspheme that honorable name which was invoked over you?

8. Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme Law of scripture: you will love your neighbour as yourself;

8. If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.

9. but as soon as you make class distinctions, you are committing sin and under condemnation for breaking the Law.

9. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

10. You see, anyone who keeps the whole of the Law but trips up on a single point, is still guilty of breaking it all.

10. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

11. He who said, 'You must not commit adultery' said also, 'You must not kill.' Now if you commit murder, you need not commit adultery as well to become a breaker of the Law.

11. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," said also, "Do not kill." If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become a transgressor of the law.

12. Talk and behave like people who are going to be judged by the law of freedom.

12. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

13. Whoever acts without mercy will be judged without mercy but mercy can afford to laugh at judgement.

13. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.

14. How does it help, my brothers, when someone who has never done a single good act claims to have faith? Will that faith bring salvation?

14. What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?

15. If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on,

15. If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food,

16. and one of you says to them, 'I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty,' without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that?

16. and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?

17. In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead.

17. So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

18. But someone may say: So you have faith and I have good deeds? Show me this faith of yours without deeds, then! It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith.

18. But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

19. You believe in the one God -- that is creditable enough, but even the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear.

19. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -- and shudder.

20. Fool! Would you not like to know that faith without deeds is useless?

20. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?

21. Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?

22. So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did.

22. You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works,

23. In this way the scripture was fulfilled: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was considered as making him upright; and he received the name 'friend of God'.

23. and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God.

24. You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified.

24. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

25. There is another example of the same kind: Rahab the prostitute, was she not justified by her deeds because she welcomed the messengers and showed them a different way to leave?

25. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

26. As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.

26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.