| Holman Christian Standard Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1My brothers, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. | 1My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. |
| 2For example, a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor man dressed in dirty clothes also comes in. | 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. |
| 3If you look with favor on the man wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here in a good place," and yet you say to the poor man, "Stand over there," or, "Sit here on the floor by my footstool," | 3If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,” |
| 4haven't you discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? | 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? |
| 5Listen, my dear brothers: Didn't God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him? | 5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? |
| 6Yet you dishonored that poor man. Don't the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? | 6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? |
| 7Don't they blaspheme the noble name that was pronounced over you at your baptism? | 7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called? |
| 8Indeed, if you keep the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. | 8If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. |
| 9But if you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. | 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. |
| 10For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking it all. | 10Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. |
| 11For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you are a lawbreaker. | 11For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. |
| 12Speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of freedom. | 12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. |
| 13For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn't shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. | 13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. |
| 14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him? | 14What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? |
| 15If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food | 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. |
| 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it? | 16If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? |
| 17In the same way faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead by itself. | 17So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. |
| 18But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. | 18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. |
| 19You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe--and they shudder. | 19You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. |
| 20Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? | 20O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? |
| 21Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? | 21Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? |
| 22You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected. | 22You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. |
| 23So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God's friend. | 23And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. |
| 24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. | 24As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. |
| 25And in the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route? | 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route? |
| 26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. | 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. |
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