The Sin of Partiality

2 My brothers,^{1 t}show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the ^uLord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, ^vhas not God chosen ^wthose who are poor in the world to be ^xrich in faith and ^yheirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who ^zblaspheme the honorable ^aname by which you were called?

8 If you really fulfill the ^broyal law according to the Scripture, ^c“You shall ^dlove your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the ^ewhole law but ^ffails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, ^g“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^h“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the ⁱlaw of liberty. 13 ^jFor judgment is ^kwithout mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has ^lfaith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 ^mIf a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good² is that? 17 So also ⁿfaith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^oby my works. 19 You believe that ^pGod is one; you do well. Even the ^qdemons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not ^rAbraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that ^sfaith was active along with his works, and ^tfaith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ^u“Abraham believed God, and it was ^vcounted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a ^wfriend of God. 24 You see that a person is ^xjustified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also ^yRahab the prostitute justified by works ^zwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Taming the Tongue

3 ^aNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 ^bFor we all ^cstumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to ^dbridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it ^eboasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a ^ffire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^gstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,¹ and set on fire by hell.² 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^hfull of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are ⁱmade in the likeness of God. 10 ^jFrom the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,³ these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 ^kCan a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter ^ljealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, ^mdo not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the ⁿwisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, ^odemonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be ^pdisorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of ^qmercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a ^rharvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who ^smake peace.

Warning Against Worldliness

4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions¹ are at ^twar within you?² 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, ^ubecause you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^vwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You ^wadulterous people!^{3 x}Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the ^yspirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^z“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^aResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 ^bDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you ^cdouble-minded. 9 ^dBe wretched and mourn and weep. ^eLet your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 ^fHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.⁴ The one who speaks against a brother or ^gjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one ^hlawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. ⁱBut who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, ^j“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet ^kyou do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a ^lmist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, ^m“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ⁿAll such boasting is evil. 17 ^oSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, you ^prich, ^qweep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are ^rmoth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up ^streasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the ^twages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a ^uday of slaughter. 6 You have ^vcondemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,¹ until the ^wcoming of the Lord. ^xSee how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the ^yearly and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, ^zfor the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^aso that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the ^bprophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those ^cblessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^dthe steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^ethe purpose of the Lord, ^fhow the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brothers, ^gdo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, ^hbut let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

13 ⁱIs anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? ^jLet him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^kanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. ^lAnd if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. ^mThe prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.² 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and ⁿhe prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 ^oThen he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

19 My brothers, ^pif anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will ^qcover a multitude of sins.

1 Peter

Greeting

1 ^aPeter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the ^bDispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the ^cforeknowledge of God the Father, in the ^dsanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for ^esprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

3 ^fBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be ^gborn again to a living ^hhope ⁱthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an ^jinheritance that is ^kimperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ^lready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you ^mrejoice, though now ⁿfor a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the ^otested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the ^prevelation of Jesus Christ. 8 ^qThough you have not seen him, you love him. ^rThough you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours ^ssearched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time¹ the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he ^tpredicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent ^uglories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things ^vthat have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you ^wby the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, ^xthings into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action,² and being ^ysober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, ^zdo not be conformed to the ^apassions of your ^bformer ignorance, 15 but as he who ^ccalled you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, ^d“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges ^eimpartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your ^fexile, 18 knowing that you were ^gransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, ^hnot with perishable things such as ⁱsilver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a ^jlamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was ^kmade manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 ^lwho through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him ^mglory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a ⁿsincere brotherly love, ^olove one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of ^pimperishable, ^qthrough the ^rliving and abiding word of God; 24 for

And this word is ^tthe good news that was preached to you.