James 2

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.	1 My brothers, do not let class distinction enter into your faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord.
2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;	2 Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, well-dressed and with a gold ring on, and at thesame time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes,
3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:	3 and you take notice of the wel -dressed man, and say, 'Come this way to the best seats'; then you tellthe poor man, 'Stand over there' or 'You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.'
4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?	4 In making this distinction among yourselves have you not used a corrupt standard?
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?	5 Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to the world that God chose, to be richin faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.
6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?	6 You, on the other hand, have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who lord it over you?
7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?	7 Are not they the ones who drag you into court, who insult the honourable name which has beenpronounced over you?
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:	8 Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme Law of scripture: you will love your neighbour asyourself;
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.	9 but as soon as you make class distinctions, you are committing sin and under condemnation forbreaking the Law.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.	10 You see, anyone who keeps the whole of the Law but trips up on a single point, is stil guilty ofbreaking it al .
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.	11 He who said, 'You must not commit adultery' said also, 'You must not kil .' Now if you commit murder,you need not commit adultery as wel to become a breaker of the Law.
12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.	12 Talk and behave like people who are going to be judged by the law of freedom.
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.	13 Whoever acts without mercy wil be judged without mercy but mercy can afford to laugh at judgement.
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?	14 How does it help, my brothers, when someone who has never done a single good act claims to havefaith? Wil that faith bring salvation?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,	15 If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?	16 and one of you says to them, 'I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty,' without giving themthese bare necessities of life, then what good is that?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.	17 In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.	18 But someone may say: So you have faith and I have good deeds? Show me this faith of yours withoutdeeds, then! It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.	19 You believe in the one God -- that is creditable enough, but even the demons have the same belief,and they tremble with fear.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?	20 Fool! Would you not like to know that faith without deeds is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?	21 Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?	22 So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what hedid.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.	23 In this way the scripture was fulfil ed: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was considered asmaking him upright; and he received the name 'friend of God'.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.	24 You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?	25 There is another example of the same kind: Rahab the prostitute, was she not justified by her deedsbecause she welcomed the messengers and showed them a different way to leave?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.	26 As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.