Study Desk

^(a)My brethren, ^(b)do not hold your faith in our ^(c)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of ^(d)personal favoritism.

For if a man comes into your ^[a]assembly with a gold ring and dressed in ^[b](e)fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in ^(f)dirty clothes,

and you ^[c]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the ^(g)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,"

have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges ^(h)with evil ^[d]motives?

Listen, ⁽ⁱ⁾my beloved brethren: did not ^(j)God choose the poor ^[e]of this world to be ^(k)rich in faith and ^(l)heirs of the kingdom which He ^(m)promised to those who love Him?

But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and ^[f]personally ⁽ⁿ⁾drag you into ^[g]court?

^(o)Do they not blaspheme the fair name ^[h]by which you have been called?

If, however, you ^(p)are fulfilling the ^[i]royal law according to the Scripture, "^(q) You shall love your neighbor as yourself ," you are doing well.

But if you ^(r)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the ^[j]law as transgressors.

For whoever keeps the whole ^[k]law and yet ^(s)stumbles in one point, he has become ^(t)guilty of all.

For He who said, "^(u) Do not commit adultery ," also said, "^(v) Do not commit murder ." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the ^[l]law.

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by ^(w)the law of liberty.

For ^(x)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy ^[m]triumphs over judgment.

^(y)What use is it, ^(z)my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can ^[n]that faith save him?

^(aa)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

and one of you says to them, "^(ab)Go in peace, ^[o]be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

Even so ^(ac)faith, if it has no works, is ^[p]dead, being by itself.

^(ad)But someone ^[q]may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your ^(ae)faith without the works, and I will ^(af)show you my faith ^(ag)by my works."

You believe that ^[r](ah)God is one. ^(ai)You do well; ^(aj)the demons also believe, and shudder.

But are you willing to recognize, ^(ak)you foolish fellow, that ^(al)faith without works is useless?

^(am)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

You see that ^(an)faith was working with his works, and ^[s]as a result of the ^(ao)works, faith was ^[t]perfected;

and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "^(ap) And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness ," and he was called ^(aq)the friend of God.

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not ^(ar)Rahab the harlot also justified by works ^(as)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also ^(at)faith without works is dead.