American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
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?
The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass.
For {Or, ye behold}behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;
and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea {Many ancient authorities omit and.}and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are:
that no flesh should glory before God.
And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
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.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment 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.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:
and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats;
and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink?
And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, {Or, Depart from me under a curse}Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:
for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink;
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me.
And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.
What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?
Now faith is {Or, the giving substance to}assurance of things hoped for, a {Or, test}conviction of things not seen.
For therein the elders had witness borne to them.
By faith we understand that the {Greek: ages. Compare 1 Timothy 1:17 margin}worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, {The Greek text in this clause is somewhat uncertain.}God bearing witness {Or, over his gifts}in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh.
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: {Or, for before his translation he hath had witness borne to him that he &c.} for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God:
and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.
By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, {Or, having taken up his abode in tents}dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose {Or, architect}builder and maker is God.
By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised:
wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable.
These all died {Greek: according to.}in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own.
And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.
By faith Abraham, being tried, {Greek: hath offered up.}offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;
even he {Or, of}to whom it was said, {Genesis 21:12}In Isaac shall thy seed be called:
accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his end was nigh, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
accounting the reproach of {Or, the Christ Compare 1 Corinthians 10:4.}Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
By faith he {Or, instituted Greek: hath made.}kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.
By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days.
By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.
And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets:
who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.
Women received their dead by a resurrection: and others were {Or, beaten to death}tortured, not accepting {Greek: the redemption.}their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise,
God having {Or, forseen}provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Now faith is {Or, the giving substance to}assurance of things hoped for, a {Or, test}conviction of things not seen.
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.
{Many ancient authorities read For we reckon.}We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from {Or, works of law}the works of the law.