James 2–3

Chapter 2

The Sin of Partiality

^1aMy brethren, ^bdo not hold your faith in our ^cglorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of ^dpersonal favoritism.

²For if a man comes into your ¹assembly with a gold ring and dressed in ^2afine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in ^bdirty clothes,

³and you ¹pay special attention to the one who is wearing the ^afine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”

⁴have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges ^awith evil ¹motives?

⁵Listen, ^amy beloved brethren: did not ^bGod choose the poor ¹of this world to be ^crich in faith and ^dheirs of the kingdom which He ^epromised to those who love Him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and ¹personally ^adrag you into ²court?

^7aDo they not blaspheme the fair name ¹by which you have been called?

⁸If, however, you ^aare fulfilling the ¹royal law according to the Scripture, “^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

⁹But if you ^ashow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the ¹law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole ¹law and yet ^astumbles in one point, he has become ^bguilty of all.

¹¹For He who said, “^aDo not commit adultery,” also said, “^bDo not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the ¹law.

¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by ^athe law of liberty.

¹³For ^ajudgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy ¹triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works

^14aWhat use is it, ^bmy brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can ¹that faith save him?

^15aIf a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “^aGo in peace, ¹be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

¹⁷Even so ^afaith, if it has no works, is ¹dead, being by itself.

^18aBut someone ¹may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your ^bfaith without the works, and I will ^cshow you my faith ^dby my works.”

¹⁹You believe that ^1aGod is one. ^bYou do well; ^cthe demons also believe, and shudder.

²⁰But are you willing to recognize, ^ayou foolish fellow, that ^bfaith without works is useless?

^21aWas not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

²²You see that ^afaith was working with his works, and ¹as a result of the ^bworks, faith was ²perfected;

²³and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “^aAnd Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called ^bthe friend of God.

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

²⁵In the same way, was not ^aRahab the harlot also justified by works ^bwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also ^afaith without works is dead.

Chapter 3

The Tongue Is a Fire

^1aLet not many of you become teachers, ^bmy brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a ¹stricter judgment.

²For we all ^astumble in many ways. ^bIf anyone does not stumble in ¹what he says, he is a ^cperfect man, able to ^dbridle the whole body as well.

³Now ^aif we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.

⁴Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.

⁵So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it ^aboasts of great things.

^bSee how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!

⁶And ^athe tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which ^bdefiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our ¹life, and is set on fire by ^2chell.

⁷For every ¹species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.

⁸But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of ^adeadly poison.

⁹With it we bless ^aour Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, ^bwho have been made in the likeness of God;

¹⁰from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

¹¹Does a fountain send out from the same opening both ¹fresh and bitter water?

^12aCan a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce ¹fresh.

Wisdom from Above

¹³Who among you is wise and understanding? ^aLet him show by his ^bgood behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

¹⁴But if you have bitter ^ajealousy and ¹selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against ^bthe truth.

¹⁵This wisdom is not that which comes down ^afrom above, but is ^bearthly, ^1cnatural, ^ddemonic.

¹⁶For where ^ajealousy and ¹selfish ambition exist, ²there is disorder and every evil thing.

¹⁷But the wisdom ^afrom above is first ^bpure, then ^cpeaceable, ^dgentle, ¹reasonable, ^efull of mercy and good fruits, ^funwavering, without ^ghypocrisy.

¹⁸And the ^1aseed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace ²by those who make peace.