James 2:3-13

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.

Cross References 17

  • 1. [Proverbs 18:23]
  • 2. John 7:24
  • 3. 1 Corinthians 1:27, 28; [Job 34:19]
  • 4. 2 Corinthians 8:9; Revelation 2:9; See Luke 12:21
  • 5. Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20; Luke 12:32
  • 6. See James 1:12
  • 7. [1 Corinthians 11:22]
  • 8. Acts 16:19
  • 9. Acts 8:3; Acts 17:6; Acts 18:12; [James 5:6]
  • 10. [Isaiah 63:19; Isaiah 65:1; Amos 9:12; Acts 15:17]
  • 11. Cited from Leviticus 19:18
  • 12. ver. 1
  • 13. Matthew 5:19; Galatians 3:10
  • 14. Cited from Exodus 20:14, 13
  • 15. Cited from Exodus 20:14, 13
  • 16. See James 1:25
  • 17. Job 22:6-11; Psalms 18:25, 26; Proverbs 21:13; Ezekiel 25:11-14; Matthew 6:15; Matthew 18:32-35; Luke 6:38
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.