3
and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place,"
1while 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
2judges with evil thoughts?
5
Listen, my beloved brothers,
3has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be
4rich in faith and heirs of
5the kingdom,
6which he has promised to those who love him?
6
But you
7have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who
8drag you
9into court?
7
Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable
10name by which you were called?
8
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
11"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well.
9
But if you
12show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point
13has become accountable for all of it.
11
For he who said,
14"Do not commit adultery," also said,
15"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
16the law of liberty.
13
For
17judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.