Passage

James 2

Book: James · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2. For if there come into your synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing; 3. and ye have regard to him that weareth the fine clothing, and say, Sit thou here in a good place; and ye say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or sit under my footstool; 4. do ye not make distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5. Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? 6. But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats? 7. Do not they blaspheme the honorable name by which ye are called? 8. Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: 9. but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. 11. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12. So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. 13. For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment. 14. What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him? 15. If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, 16. and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17. Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. 18. Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will show thee my faith. 19. Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder. 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren? 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? 22. Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect; 23. and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God. 24. Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. 25. And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead." (James 2:1-26, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. 2. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in; 3. and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”; 4. haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5. Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this 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. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts? 7. Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? 8. However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. 9. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 10. For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12. So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom. 13. For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 14. What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? 15. And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, 16. and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”; and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? 17. Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. 18. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. 20. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? 21. Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22. You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; 23. and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. 24. You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith. 25. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead." (James 2:1-26, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; ^{assembly: Gr. synagogue} 3. And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: ^{in: or, well, or, seemly} 4. Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5. Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? ^{of the: or, of that} 6. But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7. Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? ^{blaspheme: or, revile, or, slander} 8. If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. ^{he that: or, that law which} 12. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. ^{rejoiceth: or, glorieth} 14. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15. If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16. And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. ^{alone: Gr. by itself} 18. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. ^{without: some copies read, by} 19. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22. Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? ^{Seest: or, Thou seest} 23. And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. ^{spirit: or, breath}" (James 2:1-26, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. My brethren, hold not, in respect of persons, the faith of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2. for 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, 3. and 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,', 4. ye did not judge fully in yourselves, and did become ill-reasoning judges. 5. Hearken, 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? 6. and ye did dishonour the poor one; do not the rich oppress you and themselves draw you to judgment-seats; 7. do they not themselves speak evil of the good name that was called upon you? 8. If, indeed, royal law ye complete, according to the Writing, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,', ye do well; 9. and if ye accept persons, sin ye do work, being convicted by the law as transgressors; 10. for whoever the whole law shall keep, and shall stumble in one [point], he hath become guilty of all; 11. for 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; 12. so speak ye and so do, as about by a law of liberty to be judged, 13. for the judgment without kindness [is] to him not having done kindness, and exult doth kindness over judgment. 14. What [is] 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? 15. and if a brother or sister may be naked, and may be destitute of the daily food, 16. and 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 [is] the profit? 17. so also the faith, if it may not have works, is dead by itself. 18. But 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: 19. thou, thou dost believe that God is one; thou dost well, and the demons believe, and they shudder! 20. And dost thou wish to know, O vain man, that the faith apart from the works is dead? 21. Abraham our father, was not he declared righteous out of works, having brought up Isaac his son upon the altar? 22. dost thou see that the faith was working with his works, and out of the works the faith was perfected? 23. and 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. 24. Ye see, then, that out of works is man declared righteous, and not out of faith only; 25. and 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? 26. for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also the faith apart from the works is dead." (James 2:1-26, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.