My brethren, {Or, do ye, in accepting persons, hold the faith glory?}hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
For if there come into your {Or, assembly Compare Hebrews 10:25 (Greek)}synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing;
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;
{Or, are ye not divided}do ye not make distinctions {Or, in your own mind}among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
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?
But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
Do not they blaspheme the honorable name {Greek: which was called upon you? See Acts 15:17.}by which ye are called?
Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, {Leviticus 19:18.}Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.
For he that said, {Exodus 20:13 f. Deuteronomy 5:17 f. }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.
So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty.
For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.
What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food,
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?
Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
{Or, But some one will say}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.
Thou believest that {Some ancient authorities read there is one God.}God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?
{Or, Seest thou…perfect?}Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect;
and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, {Genesis 15:6}And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; {Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chronicles 20:7}and he was called the friend of God.
Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.
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?
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
Querverweise zu Jakobus 2,4 Jak 2,4
{Or, Jacob}James, a {Greek: bondservant.}servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, {Greek: wisheth joy.}greeting.
Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold {Or, trials}temptations;
knowing that the proving of your faith worketh {Or, stedfastness}patience.
And let {Or, stedfastness}patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
For let not that man think {Or, that a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways, shall receive anything of the Lord}that he shall receive anything of the Lord;
a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.
But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:
and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted {Greek: from.}of God; for God {Or, is untried in evil}cannot be tempted with {Greek: evil things.}evil, and he himself tempteth no man:
but each man is {Or, tempted by his own lust, being drawn away by it, and enticed.}tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.
Every good {Or, giving}gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
{Or, Know ye}Ye know this, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of {Or, malice}wickedness, receive with meekness the {Or, inborn}implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding {Greek: the face of his birth.}his natural face in a mirror:
for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.
If any man {Or, seemeth to be}thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain.
Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
That respecteth not the persons of princes,Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor;For they all are the work of his hands.
Behold, I know your thoughts,And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.
For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam. {Or, Is the righteousness ye should speak dumb?}Do ye indeed {Or, as otherwise read, O ye gods Or, O ye mighty ones}in silence speak righteousness?Do ye {Or, judge uprightly the sons of men}judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
How long will ye judge unjustly,And respect the persons of the wicked? [Selah
For he will stand at the right hand of the needy,To save him from them that judge his soul.
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.