James 2-4

1My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.

2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.

3If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”

4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called?

8If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

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

10Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

11For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.

13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

14What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

16If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

17So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

19You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?

21Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

22You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did.

23And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.

24As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone.

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?

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

1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal.

4Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.

5In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

6The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,

8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

10Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!

11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

12My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.

15Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

17But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.

1What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?

2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.

3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

6But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.

12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

16As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

17Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.