James 2-4

English Standard Version

The Sin of Partiality

2 My brothers,^{[a] (A)}show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(B)the Lord of glory. ² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” ^(C)while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become ^(D)judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, ^(E)has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be ^(F)rich in faith and heirs of ^(G)the kingdom, ^(H)which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you ^(I)have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who ^(J)drag you ^(K)into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable ^(L)name by which you were called?

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

Faith Without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith ^(T)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ^15 (U)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ^16 (V)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good^[b] is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith ^(W)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^(X)by my works. ^19 (Y)You believe that God is one; you do well. Even ^(Z)the demons believe—and shudder! ²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ^21 (AA)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that ^(AB)faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed ^(AC)by his works; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ^(AD)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a ^(AE)friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way was not also ^(AF)Rahab the prostitute justified by works ^(AG)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Taming the Tongue

3 ^(AH)Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ² For ^(AI)we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ^(AJ)he is a perfect man, ^(AK)able also to bridle his whole body. ³ If we put ^(AL)bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet ^(AM)it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And ^(AN)the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^(AO)staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,^[c] and set on fire by hell.^{[d] 7} For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^(AP)full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^(AQ)who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,^[e] these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? ^(AR)By his good conduct let him show his works ^(AS)in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter ^(AT)jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not ^(AU)the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, ^(AV)demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷ But ^(AW)the wisdom from above is first pure, then ^(AX)peaceable, gentle, open to reason, ^(AY)full of mercy and good fruits, ^(AZ)impartial and ^(BA)sincere. ¹⁸ And ^(BB)a harvest of righteousness ^(BC)is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Warning Against Worldliness

4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions^[f] are ^(BD)at war within you?^{[g] 2} You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^(BE)wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ^4 (BF)You adulterous people!^[h] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(BG)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^(BH)that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But ^(BI)he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^(BJ)“God opposes the proud but ^(BK)gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^(BL)Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (BM)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^(BN)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and ^(BO)purify your hearts, ^(BP)you double-minded. ^9 (BQ)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (BR)Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

^11 (BS)Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.^[i] The one who speaks against a brother or ^(BT)judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is only ^(BU)one lawgiver and ^(BV)judge, he who is able to save and ^(BW)to destroy. But ^(BX)who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(BY)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^(BZ)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(CA)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^(CB)All such boasting is evil. ^17 (CC)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.