| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. | 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 someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy 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. |
| 3do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, "You sit here in a good place," and to the poor person, "You stand over there," or "Sit on the floor"? | 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, |
| 4If so, have 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 dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that 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! Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? | 6But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? |
| 7Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to? | 7Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear? |
| 8But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this 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 prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. | 9But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. |
| 10For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. | 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 murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator 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. |
| 12Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. | 12So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. |
| 13For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But 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 good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of 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 poorly clothed and lacks 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, keep warm and eat well," but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? | 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? |
| 17So also faith, if it does not have 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 will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith without works and I will show you 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; well and good. Even the demons believe that--and tremble with fear. | 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 would you like evidence, you empty 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 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 his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. | 22You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. |
| 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness," and he was called God's friend. | 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 person 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. |
| 25And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed 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. |
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