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 good1 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.
Greeting
1 aJames, a bservant1 of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the cDispersion:
Greetings.
Testing of Your Faith
2 dCount it all joy, my brothers,2 when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you eknow that the ftesting of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be gperfect and hcomplete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks iwisdom, let him jask God, who gives generously to all kwithout reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, lwith no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and mtossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a ndouble-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 oLet the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the prich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass3 he will pass away. 11 For the qsun rises with its scorching heat and withers the rgrass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 sBlessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the tcrown of life, which God has promised to those who ulove him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being vtempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed wby his own xdesire. 15 Then desire ywhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and zsin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16 aDo not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 bEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is cno variation or shadow due to change.4 18 Of his own will he dbrought us forth eby the fword of truth, that we should be a kind of gfirstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be hquick to hear, islow to speak, jslow to anger; 20 kfor the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the limplanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be mdoers of the word, and nnot hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the olaw of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be pblessed in his doing.
26 qIf anyone thinks he is religious and does not rbridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit sorphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
