James 2 - 3 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Sin of Favoritism

2^aMy brothers, ^bdo not hold your faith in our ¹^,^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 ^abright clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in ^bdirty clothes, ³and you ¹pay special attention to the one who is wearing the ^abright 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 thoughts? ⁵Listen, ^amy beloved brothers: 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 they themselves ^adrag you into ¹court? ⁷^aDo they not blaspheme the good 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, being 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 murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but 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 freedom. ¹³For ^ajudgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy ¹triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works

¹⁴^aWhat use is it, ^bmy brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can ¹that faith save him? ¹⁵^aIf 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 by itself.

¹⁸^aBut someone will 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 ¹^,^aGod 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? ²¹^aWas 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 counted 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. ²⁵And in 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.

The Tongue Is a Fire

3^aDo not, many of you, become teachers, ^bmy brothers, knowing that we will receive 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 entire 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, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot wills. ⁵So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it ^aboasts of great things. ^bBehold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! ⁶And ^athe tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which ^bdefiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our ¹existence, and is set on fire by ²^,^chell. ⁷For every kind of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 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 blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a fountain pour forth from the same opening ¹fresh and bitter water? ¹²^aCan a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can saltwater produce ¹fresh.

Wisdom from Above

¹³Who among you is wise and understanding? ^aLet him show by his ^bgood conduct his works 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 coming down ^afrom above, but is ^bearthly, ¹^,^cnatural, ^ddemonic. ¹⁶For where ^ajealousy and ¹selfish ambition exist, ²there is disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷But the wisdom ^afrom above is first ^bpure, then ^cpeaceable, ^dconsiderate, submissive, ^efull of mercy and good fruits, ^fwithout doubting, without hypocrisy. ¹⁸And the fruit of righteousness ^ais sown in peace ¹by those who make peace.