2 For if a man with a gold ring and fine clothing enters your assembly, and a poor man in dirty clothing also enters, 3 {but}^a you look upon the one wearing the fine clothing and say [[to him]],^b You sit here in a good place, and to the poor man, You stand there, or sit here under my footstool, 4 [and]^c have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor in {the}^d world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme the good name by which you are called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;^e 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point has become guilty of all. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.”^f Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

12 So speak and so act as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For judgment is merciless to the one who has not shown mercy; [[and]]^g mercy triumphs over judgment.

14 What [is the]^h benefit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

15 [[But]]ⁱ If a brother or sister is naked and lacking daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things needed for the body, what [is the]^j profit? 17 In the same way, faith also, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

18 But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith {without the}^k works, and I will show you my faith from {the}^l works.

19 You believe that God is one.^m You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

20 But do you want to know, O empty man, that faith apart from works is {useless}?ⁿ

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was made perfect, 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.^o

24 [[Therefore]]^p You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

26 For just as the body without the spirit^q is dead, also faith without [[the]]^r works is dead.