1My brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord, Jesus Christ, while you favor some people over others? 2For example, if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothes; and a poor man also comes in, wearing filthy old clothes, 3And you give special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing, and say to him, “Sit here in a good seat.”; and say to the poor, “Stand over there.”, or “Sit on the floor by my feet.”, 4Are you not then discriminating, showing partiality driven by evil motives among yourselves? 5Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: Has God not chosen the poor in the eyes of this world to be rich in faith, and to inherit the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him? 6By so doing, you have despised the poor. Is it not the rich who exploit you, and drag you into court? 7Are they not the ones who slander that worthy name by Which you were called?

8If you really fulfill the royal law found in Scripture - “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev19:18), you do well; 9But if you show favoritism, you sin, and are convicted of breaking the law. 10For whoever keeps the entire law, except for just one point, is in violation of the entire law. 11For He Who said, “Do not commit adultery.”, also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you commit no adultery, and yet you commit murder, you are a lawbreaker. 12So whatever you say or do, do so remembering you shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13Because judgment without mercy shall be shown to those that have shown no mercy; and mercy triumphs over (or trumps) judgment.

14What good does it do, brothers and sisters, for someone to say he has faith, but it does not show in his actions? Can that kind of faith save him? 15If a brother or sister lacks warm clothing or food, 16And one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled.”; but does nothing to provide for their physical needs, what good does it do? 17In the same way, faith that stands alone, and has no effect on behavior - is dead. 18Someone might say: “You boast of your faith, and I of my actions. You show me your faith without actions; and I will show you my faith by my actions.”

19You say you believe that there is one God; good, you do well. But even the demons believe that; and they shudder! 20Do you still need further evidence, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21Was Abraham, our father, not considered justified and righteous by his works – by what he did, when he offered his son, Isaac, upon the altar? 22 And so you see how his faith and his actions worked together; and his faith was made complete by what he did – his actions; and by his actions, his faith was made complete. 23And that Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Gen.15:6); and he was also called “the friend of God” (2 Chron.20:7, Is. 41:8).24You see, then, how that it is by what a person does, and not just by their faith alone, that a person is justified. 25In the same way, even Rahab, the harlot, was justified and spared by her actions, when she had received and hidden those spies sent to Jericho by Joshua, and then sent them out safely by a different way. 26And so, just as the body without breath or spirit is dead, so also, faith, without works, is also dead, or of no effect.