James 2

CHAPTER 2

¹My brethren, do not ye have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, in acception of persons. [My brethren, do not in acception, or taking, of persons, have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.]

²For if a man that hath a golden ring, and in a fair clothing, cometh in your company, and a poor man entereth in a foul clothing,

³and if ye behold into him that is clothed with clear clothing, and if ye say to him, Sit thou here well; but to the poor man ye say, Stand thou there, either sit under the stool of my feet;

⁴whether ye deem not with your-selves, and be made doomsmen of wicked thoughts?

⁵Hear ye, my most dearworthy brethren, whether God chose not poor men in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, that God promised to men that love him?

⁶But ye have despised the poor man. Whether rich men oppress not you by power, and they draw you to dooms?

⁷Whether they blaspheme not the good name, that is called to help on you? [or that is in-called of you?]

⁸Nevertheless if ye perform the King’s law, by scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.

⁹But if ye take persons, ye work sin, and be reproved of the law, as trespassers [or as transgressors] .

¹⁰And whoever keepeth all the law, but offendeth in one, he is made guilty of all.

¹¹For he that said, Thou shalt do no lechery [or Thou shalt not do lechery] , said also, Thou shalt not slay; that if thou doest no lechery, but thou slayest, thou art made [a] trespasser of the law.

¹²Thus speak ye, and thus do ye, as beginning to be deemed by the law of freedom.

¹³For why doom without mercy is to him, that doeth no mercy; but mercy above raiseth doom.

¹⁴My brethren, what shall it profit, if any man say that he hath faith, but he hath not works? whether faith shall be able to save him?

¹⁵And if a brother or sister be naked, and have need of each day’s livelode [or lifelode] ,

¹⁶and if any of you say to them, Go ye in peace, be ye made hot, and be ye [full] -filled; but if ye give not to them those things that be necessary to the body, what shall it profit?

¹⁷So also faith, if it hath not works, is dead in itself.

¹⁸But some man shall say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; show thou to me thy faith without works, and I shall show to thee my faith of works.

¹⁹Thou believest, that one God is; thou doest well; and devils believe, and [together] tremble.

²⁰But wilt thou know, thou vain man, that faith without works is idle?

²¹Whether Abraham, our father, was not justified of works, offering Isaac, his son, on the altar?

²²Therefore thou seest, that faith wrought with his works, and his faith was [ful] filled of works.

²³And the scripture was [ful] filled, saying, Abraham believed to God, and it was areckoned to him to rightwiseness, and he was called the friend of God.

²⁴Ye see that a man is justified of works, and not of faith only.

²⁵In like manner, whether also Rahab, the whore, was not justified of works, and received the messengers, and sent them out by another way?

²⁶For as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.