| New American Standard Bible 1995 | New Living Translation |
| 1My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. | 1My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? |
| 2For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, | 2For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. |
| 3and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine 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," | 3If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, |
| 4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? | 4doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? |
| 5Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? | 5Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? |
| 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? | 6But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? |
| 7Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? | 7Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear? |
| 8If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well. | 8Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. | 9But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. |
| 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. | 10For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. |
| 11For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT COMMIT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. | 11For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. |
| 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. | 12So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. |
| 13For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. | 13There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead |
| 14What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? | 14What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? |
| 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, | 15Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, |
| 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? | 16and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? |
| 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. | 17So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. |
| 18But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." | 18Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” |
| 19You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. | 19You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. |
| 20But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? | 20How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? |
| 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? | 21Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? |
| 22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; | 22You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. |
| 23and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God. | 23And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. |
| 24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. | 24So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. |
| 25In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? | 25Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. |
| 26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. | 26Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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