1 M y brethren, hold not, in respect of persons, the faith of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,

My Christian brothers, our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of shining-greatness. Since your trust is in Him, do not look on one person as more important than another.

2 f or if there may come into your synagogue a man with gold ring, in gay raiment, and there may come in also a poor man in vile raiment,

What if a man comes into your church wearing a gold ring and good clothes? And at the same time a poor man comes wearing old clothes.

3 a nd ye may look upon him bearing the gay raiment, and may say to him, `Thou -- sit thou here well,' and to the poor man may say, `Thou -- stand thou there, or, Sit thou here under my footstool,' --

What if you show respect to the man in good clothes and say, “Come and sit in this good place”? But if you say to the poor man, “Stand up over there,” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

4 y e did not judge fully in yourselves, and did become ill-reasoning judges.

are you not thinking that one is more important than the other? This kind of thinking is sinful.

5 H earken, my brethren beloved, did not God choose the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the reign that He promised to those loving Him?

Listen, my dear Christian brothers, God has chosen those who are poor in the things of this world to be rich in faith. The holy nation of heaven is theirs. That is what God promised to those who love Him.

6 a nd ye did dishonour the poor one; do not the rich oppress you and themselves draw you to judgment-seats;

You have not shown respect to the poor man. Is it not the rich men who make it hard for you and take you to court?

7 d o they not themselves speak evil of the good name that was called upon you?

They speak against the name of Christ. And it was Christ Who called you.

8 I f, indeed, royal law ye complete, according to the Writing, `Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,' -- ye do well;

You do well when you obey the Holy Writings which say, “You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

9 a nd if ye accept persons, sin ye do work, being convicted by the law as transgressors;

But if you look on one man as more important than another, you are sinning. And the Law says you are sinning. Keep the Whole Law

10 f or whoever the whole law shall keep, and shall stumble in one, he hath become guilty of all;

If you obey all the Laws but one, you are as guilty as the one who has broken them all.

11 f or He who is saying, `Thou mayest not commit adultery,' said also, `Thou mayest do no murder;' and if thou shalt not commit adultery, and shalt commit murder, thou hast become a transgressor of law;

The One Who said, “You must not do any sex sins,” also said, “You must not kill another person.” If you do no sex sins but kill someone, you are guilty of breaking the Law.

12 s o speak ye and so do, as about by a law of liberty to be judged,

Keep on talking and acting as people who will be told they are guilty or not by the Law that makes men free.

13 f or the judgment without kindness to him not having done kindness, and exult doth kindness over judgment.

Anyone who shows no loving-kindness will have no loving-kindness shown to him when he is told he is guilty. But if you show loving-kindness, God will show loving-kindness to you when you are told you are guilty. Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 W hat the profit, my brethren, if faith, any one may speak of having, and works he may not have? is that faith able to save him?

My Christian brothers, what good does it do if you say you have faith but do not do things that prove you have faith? Can that kind of faith save you from the punishment of sin?

15 a nd if a brother or sister may be naked, and may be destitute of the daily food,

What if a Christian does not have clothes or food?

16 a nd any one of you may say to them, `Depart ye in peace, be warmed, and be filled,' and may not give to them the things needful for the body, what the profit?

And one of you says to him, “Goodbye, keep yourself warm and eat well.” But if you do not give him what he needs, how does that help him?

17 s o also the faith, if it may not have works, is dead by itself.

A faith that does not do things is a dead faith.

18 B ut say may some one, Thou hast faith, and I have works, shew me thy faith out of thy works, and I will shew thee out of my works my faith:

Someone may say, “You have faith, and I do things. Prove to me you have faith when you are doing nothing. I will prove to you I have faith by doing things.”

19 t hou -- thou dost believe that God is one; thou dost well, and the demons believe, and they shudder!

You believe there is one God. That is good! But even the demons believe that, and because they do, they shake.

20 A nd dost thou wish to know, O vain man, that the faith apart from the works is dead?

You foolish man! Do I have to prove to you that faith without doing things is of no use?

21 A braham our father -- was not he declared righteous out of works, having brought up Isaac his son upon the altar?

Was not our early father Abraham right with God by what he did? He obeyed God and put his son Isaac on the altar to die.

22 d ost thou see that the faith was working with his works, and out of the works the faith was perfected?

You see his faith working by what he did and his faith was made perfect by what he did.

23 a nd fulfilled was the Writing that is saying, `And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him -- to righteousness;' and, `Friend of God' he was called.

It happened as the Holy Writings said it would happen. They say, “Abraham put his trust in God and he became right with God.” He was called the friend of God.

24 Y e see, then, that out of works is man declared righteous, and not out of faith only;

A man becomes right with God by what he does and not by faith only.

25 a nd in like manner also Rahab the harlot -- was she not out of works declared righteous, having received the messengers, and by another way having sent forth?

The same was true with Rahab, the woman who sold the use of her body. She became right with God by what she did in helping the men who had been sent to look through the country and sent them away by another road.

26 f or as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also the faith apart from the works is dead.

The body is dead when there is no spirit in it. It is the same with faith. Faith is dead when nothing is done.