Ezekiel 14; Ezekiel 15; James 2

1 Some of the elders of Israel came to see me. They sat down with me.

2 Then a message came to me from the Lord. He said,

3 "Son of man, these men have thought about nothing but other gods. They have fallen into the evil trap of worshiping them. Should I let those men ask me for any advice?

4 "Speak to them. Tell them, 'The LORD and King says, "Suppose an Israelite thinks about other gods. And he falls into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then he goes to a prophet to ask for advice. If he does, I myself will tell the prophet to answer him in keeping with his worship of many gods.

5 I will win back the hearts of the people of Israel. All of them have deserted me for their other gods." '

6 "So speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'The LORD and King says, "Turn away from your sins! Also turn away from your gods. Give up all of the evil things you have done. I hate them.

7 " ' "Suppose an Israelite or outsider who lives in Israel separates himself from me. And he thinks about other gods. He falls into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then he goes to a prophet to ask me for advice. If he does, I myself will tell the prophet to answer him.

8 I will turn against him. I will make an example out of him. People will laugh at him. I will cut him off from you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

9 " ' "Suppose that prophet is stirred up to give a prophecy. Then I am the one who has stirred him up. And I will reach out my powerful hand against him. I will destroy him from among my people Israel.

10 The prophet will be as much to blame as the one who asks him for advice. Both of them will be guilty.

11 Then the people of Israel will no longer wander away from me. And they will not pollute themselves anymore with their many sins. They will be my people. And I will be their God," ' announces the LORD and King."

12 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

13 "Son of man, suppose the people in a certain country sin against me. And they are not faithful to me. So I reach out my powerful hand against them. I cut off their food supply. I make them very hungry. I kill them and their animals.

14 And suppose Noah, Daniel and Job were in that country. Then those three men could save only themselves by doing what is right," announces the LORD and King.

15 "Or suppose I send wild animals through that country. And they kill all of its children. It becomes a dry and empty desert. No one can pass through it because of the animals.

16 And suppose those three men were in that country. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. But the land would become a dry and empty desert. And that is just as sure as I am alive," announces the LORD and King.

17 "Or suppose I send swords to kill the people in that country. And I say, 'Let swords sweep all through the land.' And I kill its people and their animals.

18 And suppose those three men were in that country. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. And that is just as sure as I am alive," announces the LORD and King.

19 "Or suppose I send a plague into that land. And I pour out my burning anger on it by spilling blood. I kill its people and their animals.

20 And suppose Noah, Daniel and Job were in that land. Then they could not save their own sons or daughters. They could save only themselves by doing what is right. And that is just as sure as I am alive," announces the LORD and King.

21 The LORD and King says, "It will get much worse. I will punish Jerusalem in four horrible ways. There will be war, hunger, wild animals and plague. They will destroy the people and their animals.

22 "But some people will be left alive. Some children will be brought out of the city. They will come to you. You will see how they act and the way they live. And you will be comforted in spite of all of the trouble I brought on Jerusalem.

23 You will be comforted when you see how they act and the way they live. Then you will know that I did not do anything there without a reason," announces the LORD and King.

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

2 "Son of man, is the wood of a vine better than the wood of any of the trees in the forest?

3 Can its wood ever be made into anything useful? Can pegs be made from it to hang things on?

4 "Suppose it is thrown in the fire to be burned. And the fire burns both ends and blackens the middle. Then is it useful for anything?

5 It was not useful when it was whole. So how can it be made into something useful now? The fire has burned it and blackened it."

6 The LORD and King says, "Instead of the wood of any tree in the forest, I have given the vine to burn in the fire. I will treat the people who live in Jerusalem the same way.

7 I will turn against them. They might have come out of the fire. But the fire will destroy them anyway. I will turn against them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

8 I will make the land a dry and empty desert. My people have not been faithful to me," announces the LORD and King.

1 My brothers and sisters, you are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. So treat everyone the same.

2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes. And suppose a poor man in worn-out clothes also comes in.

3 Would you show special attention to the one who is wearing fine clothes? Would you say, "Here's a good seat for you"? Would you say to the poor person, "You stand there"? Or "Sit on the floor by my feet"?

4 If you would, aren't you treating some people better than others? Aren't you like judges who have evil thoughts?

5 My dear brothers and sisters, listen to me. Hasn't God chosen those who are poor in the world's eyes to be rich in faith? Hasn't he chosen them to receive the kingdom? Hasn't he promised it to those who love him?

6 But you have put poor people down. Aren't rich people taking advantage of you? Aren't they dragging you into court?

7 Aren't they speaking evil things against the worthy name of Jesus? Remember, you belong to him.

8 The royal law is found in Scripture. It says, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."(Leviticus 19:18) If you really keep that law, you are doing what is right.

9 But you sin if you don't treat everyone the same. The law judges you because you have broken it.

10 Suppose you keep the whole law but trip over just one part of it. Then you are guilty of breaking all of it.

11 God said, "Do not commit adultery."(Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18) He also said, "Do not commit murder."(Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) Suppose you don't commit adultery but do commit murder. Then you have broken the Law.

12 Speak and act like people who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.

13 Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy when they are judged. To show mercy is better than to judge.

14 My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people claim they have faith but don't act like it? Can that kind of faith save them?

15 Suppose a brother or sister has no clothes or food.

16 Suppose one of you says to them, "Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well." And you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done?

17 It is the same with faith. If it doesn't cause us to do something, it's dead.

18 But someone will say, "You have faith. I do good works." Show me your faith that doesn't do good works. And I will show you my faith by what I do.

19 You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that. And they tremble!

20 You foolish man! Do you want proof that faith without good works is useless?

21 Our father Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar. Wasn't he considered to be right with God because of what he did?

22 So you see that what he believed and what he did were working together. What he did made his faith complete.

23 That is what Scripture means where it says, "Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God."(Genesis 15:6) And that's not all. God called Abraham his friend.

24 So you see that a person is made right with God by what he does. It doesn't happen only because of what he believes.

25 Didn't God make even Rahab the prostitute right with him? That's because of what she did. She gave the spies a place to stay. Then she sent them off in a different direction.

26 The body without the spirit is dead. In the same way, faith without good works is dead.