1 H ERMANOS míos, no tengáis la fe de nuestro Señor Jesucristo glorioso en acepción de personas.

My brethren, pay no servile regard to people. Do not hold and practice the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory!

2 P orque si en vuestra congregación entra un hombre con anillo de oro, y de preciosa ropa, y también entra un pobre con vestidura vil,

For if a person comes into your congregation whose hands are adorned with gold rings and who is wearing splendid apparel, and also a poor in shabby clothes comes in,

3 Y tuviereis respeto al que trae la vestidura preciosa, y le dijereis: Siéntate tú aquí en buen lugar: y dijereis al pobre: Estáte tú allí en pie; ó siéntate aquí debajo de mi estrado:

And you pay special attention to the one who wears the splendid clothes and say to him, Sit here in this preferable seat! while you tell the poor, Stand there! or, Sit there on the floor at my feet!

4 ¿ No juzguáis en vosotros mismos, y venís á ser jueces de pensamientos malos?

Are you not discriminating among your own and becoming critics and judges with wrong motives?

5 H ermanos míos amados, oid: ¿No ha elegido Dios los pobres de este mundo, ricos en fe, y herederos del reino que ha prometido á los que le aman?

Listen, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and in their position as believers and to inherit the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him?

6 M as vosotros habéis afrentado al pobre. ¿No os oprimen los ricos, y no son ellos los mismos que os arrastran á los juzgados?

But you have insulted (humiliated, dishonored, and shown your contempt for) the poor. Is it not the rich who domineer over you? Is it not they who drag you into the law courts?

7 ¿ No blasfeman ellos el buen nombre que fué invocado sobre vosotros?

Is it not they who slander and blaspheme that precious name by which you are distinguished and called ?

8 S i en verdad cumplís vosotros la ley real, conforme á la Escritura: Amarás á tu prójimo como á ti mismo, bien hacéis:

If indeed you fulfill the royal Law in accordance with the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.

9 M as si hacéis acepción de personas, cometéis pecado, y sois reconvenidos de la ley como transgresores.

But if you show servile regard (prejudice, favoritism) for people, you commit sin and are rebuked and convicted by the Law as violators and offenders.

10 P orque cualquiera que hubiere guardado toda la ley, y ofendiere en un punto, es hecho culpado de todos.

For whosoever keeps the Law whole but stumbles and offends in one has become guilty of all of it.

11 P orque el que dijo: No cometerás adulterio, también ha dicho: No matarás. Ahora bien, si no hubieres matado, ya eres hecho transgresor de la ley.

For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the Law.

12 A sí hablad, y así obrad, como los que habéis de ser juzgados por la ley de libertad.

So speak and so act as who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

13 P orque juicio sin misericordia será hecho con aquel que no hiciere misericordia: y la misericordia se gloría contra el juicio.

For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment merciless, but mercy exults victoriously over judgment.

14 H ermanos míos, ¿qué aprovechará si alguno dice que tiene fe, y no tiene obras? ¿Podrá la fe salvarle?

What is the use (profit), my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no works ? Can faith save ?

15 Y si el hermano ó la hermana están desnudos, y tienen necesidad del mantenimiento de cada día,

If a brother or sister is poorly clad and lacks food for each day,

16 Y alguno de vosotros les dice: Id en paz, calentaos y hartaos; pero no les diereis las cosas que son necesarias para el cuerpo: ¿qué aprovechará?

And one of you says to him, Good-bye! Keep warm and well fed, without giving him the necessities for the body, what good does that do?

17 A sí también la fe, si no tuviere obras, es muerta en sí misma.

So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).

18 P ero alguno dirá: Tú tienes fe, y yo tengo obras: muéstrame tu fe sin tus obras, y yo te mostraré mi fe por mis obras.

But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Now you show me your faith apart from any works, and I by works will show you my faith.

19 T ú crees que Dios es uno; bien haces: también los demonios creen, y tiemblan.

You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder '> make a man’s hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]!

20 ¿ Mas quieres saber, hombre vano, que la fe sin obras es muerta?

Are you willing to be shown, you foolish (unproductive, spiritually deficient) fellow, that faith apart from works is inactive and ineffective and worthless?

21 ¿ No fué justificado por las obras Abraham nuestro padre, cuando ofreció á su hijo Isaac sobre el altar?

Was not our forefather Abraham justified (made acceptable to God) by works when he brought to the altar as an offering his son Isaac?

22 ¿ No ves que la fe obró con sus obras, y que la fe fué perfecta por las obras?

You see that faith was cooperating with his works, and faith was completed and reached its supreme expression by works.

23 Y fué cumplida la Escritura que dice: Abraham creyó á Dios, y le fué imputado á justicia, y fué llamado amigo de Dios.

And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God’s will in thought and deed), and he was called God’s friend.

24 V osotros veis, pues, que el hombre es justificado por las obras, y no solamente por la fe.

You see that a man is justified (pronounced righteous before God) through what he does and not alone through faith.

25 A simismo también Rahab la ramera, ¿no fué justificada por obras, cuando recibió los mensajeros, y los echó fuera por otro camino?

So also with Rahab the harlot—was she not shown to be justified (pronounced righteous before God) by deeds when she took in the scouts (spies) and sent them away by a different route?

26 P orque como el cuerpo sin espíritu está muerto, así también la fe sin obras es muerta.

For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from works of obedience is also dead.