﻿James.
Chapter 2.
My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 
For if a man wearing gold rings and splendid clothing comes into your gathering, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, 
and you pay special attention to the one wearing the splendid clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand, or sit there beneath my footstool,” 
have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen those who are poor in the world's eyes to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom he promised to those who love him? 
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 
Is it not they who blaspheme the good name invoked over you? 
If you indeed fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. 
But if you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 
For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point has become guilty of all of it. 
For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 
Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 
For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but has no works? Can that faith save him? 
If a brother or sister is without clothing and lacks daily food, 
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? 
So also faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself. 
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 
Do you believe that God is one? You do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith apart from works is useless? 
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 
You see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made complete, 
and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 
And likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way? 
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. 
