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James 2

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1 Ἀδελφοί μου, μὴ ἐν προσωπολημψίαις ἔχετε τὴν πίστιν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς δόξης. 2 ἐὰν γὰρ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς συναγωγὴν ὑμῶν ἀνὴρ χρυσοδακτύλιος ἐν ἐσθῆτι λαμπρᾷ, εἰσέλθῃ δὲ καὶ πτωχὸς ἐν ῥυπαρᾷ ἐσθῆτι, 3 ἐπιβλέψητε δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν φοροῦντα τὴν ἐσθῆτα τὴν λαμπρὰν καὶ εἴπητε, σὺ κάθου ὧδε καλῶς, καὶ τῷ πτωχῷ εἴπητε, σὺ στῆθι ἐκεῖ ἢ κάθου ὑπὸ τὸ ὑποπόδιόν μου, 4 οὐ διεκρίθητε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἐγένεσθε κριταὶ διαλογισμῶν πονηρῶν; 5 ἀκούσατε, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοί. οὐχ ὁ θεὸς ἐξελέξατο τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ πλουσίους ἐν πίστει καὶ κληρονόμους τῆς βασιλείας ἧς ἐπηγγείλατο τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν; 6 ὑμεῖς δὲ ἠτιμάσατε τὸν πτωχόν. οὐχ οἱ πλούσιοι καταδυναστεύουσιν ὑμῶν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἕλκουσιν ὑμᾶς εἰς κριτήρια; 7 οὐκ αὐτοὶ βλασφημοῦσιν τὸ καλὸν ὄνομα τὸ ἐπικληθὲν ἐφ' ὑμᾶς; 8 εἰ μέντοι νόμον τελεῖτε βασιλικὸν κατὰ τὴν γραφήν, ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν, καλῶς ποιεῖτε: 9 εἰ δὲ προσωπολημπτεῖτε, ἁμαρτίαν ἐργάζεσθε, ἐλεγχόμενοι ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου ὡς παραβάται. 10 ὅστις γὰρ ὅλον τὸν νόμον τηρήσῃ, πταίσῃ δὲ ἐν ἑνί, γέγονεν πάντων ἔνοχος. 11 ὁ γὰρ εἰπών, μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, εἶπεν καί, μὴ φονεύσῃς: εἰ δὲ οὐ μοιχεύεις, φονεύεις δέ, γέγονας παραβάτης νόμου. 12 οὕτως λαλεῖτε καὶ οὕτως ποιεῖτε ὡς διὰ νόμου ἐλευθερίας μέλλοντες κρίνεσθαι. 13 ἡ γὰρ κρίσις ἀνέλεος τῷ μὴ ποιήσαντι ἔλεος: κατακαυχᾶται ἔλεος κρίσεως.

1 Brethren, you believe that all glory belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ; do not combine this faith of yours with flattery of human greatness. 2 Suppose that a man comes into your place of meeting in fine clothes, wearing a gold ring; suppose that a poor man comes in at the same time, ill clad. 3 Will you pay attention to the well-dressed man, and bid him take some place of honour; will you tell the poor man, Stand where thou art, or Sit on the ground at my footstool? 4 If so, are you not introducing divisions into your company? Have you not shewn partiality in your judgement? 5 Listen to me, my dear brethren; has not God chosen the men who are poor in the world’s eyes to be rich in faith, to be heirs of that kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? 6 And here are you putting the poor man to shame. Is it not the rich who use their power to oppress you? Are not they the very men who drag you into court, 7 the very men who speak evil of that honoured name, by which you are called? 8 True, you do well to observe, in their regard, the royal law you find in the words of scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 9 But if you flatter the great, you incur guilt; the law finds you out in a transgression. 10 And the man who has failed in one point, though he has kept the rest of the law, is liable to all its penalties: 11 he who forbids adultery has forbidden murder as well. The murderer, though he be no adulterer, has yet transgressed the law. 12 You must speak and act like men already on their trial before a law of freedom.[1] 13 The merciless will be judged mercilessly; mercy gives its judgement an honourable welcome.[2]

1 Fratres mei, nolite in personarum acceptione habere fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi gloriæ. 2 Etenim si introierit in conventum vestrum vir aureum annulum habens in veste candida, introierit autem et pauper in sordido habitu, 3 et intendatis in eum qui indutus est veste præclara, et dixeritis ei: Tu sede hic bene: pauperi autem dicatis: Tu sta illic; aut sede sub scabello pedum meorum: 4 nonne judicatis apud vosmetipsos, et facti estis judices cogitationum iniquarum? 5 Audite, fratres mei dilectissimi: nonne Deus elegit pauperes in hoc mundo, divites in fide, et hæredes regni, quod repromisit Deus diligentibus se? 6 vos autem exhonorastis pauperem. Nonne divites per potentiam opprimunt vos, et ipsi trahunt vos ad judicia? 7 nonne ipsi blasphemant bonum nomen, quod invocatum est super vos? 8 Si tamen legem perficitis regalem secundum Scripturas: Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum: bene facitis: 9 si autem personas accipitis, peccatum operamini, redarguti a lege quasi transgressores. 10 Quicumque autem totam legem servaverit, offendat autem in uno, factus est omnium reus. 11 Qui enim dixit: Non mœchaberis, dixit et: Non occides. Quod si non mœchaberis, occides autem, factus es transgressor legis. 12 Sic loquimini, et sic facite sicut per legem libertatis incipientes judicari. 13 Judicium enim sine misericordia illi qui non fecit misericordiam: superexaltat autem misericordia judicium.

14 Τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τις ἔχειν, ἔργα δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ; μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν; 15 ἐὰν ἀδελφὸς ἢ ἀδελφὴ γυμνοὶ ὑπάρχωσιν καὶ λειπόμενοι τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς, 16 εἴπῃ δέ τις αὐτοῖς ἐξ ὑμῶν, ὑπάγετε ἐν εἰρήνῃ, θερμαίνεσθε καὶ χορτάζεσθε, μὴ δῶτε δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῦ σώματος, τί τὸ ὄφελος; 17 οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις, ἐὰν μὴ ἔχῃ ἔργα, νεκρά ἐστιν καθ' ἑαυτήν. 18 ἀλλ' ἐρεῖ τις, σὺ πίστιν ἔχεις κἀγὼ ἔργα ἔχω. δεῖξόν μοι τὴν πίστιν σου χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων, κἀγώ σοι δείξω ἐκ τῶν ἔργων μου τὴν πίστιν. 19 σὺ πιστεύεις ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ θεός; καλῶς ποιεῖς: καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύουσιν καὶ φρίσσουσιν. 20 θέλεις δὲ γνῶναι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε κενέ, ὅτι ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων ἀργή ἐστιν; 21 Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον; 22 βλέπεις ὅτι ἡ πίστις συνήργει τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἡ πίστις ἐτελειώθη, 23 καὶ ἐπληρώθη ἡ γραφὴ ἡ λέγουσα: ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, καὶ φίλος θεοῦ ἐκλήθη. 24 ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον. 25 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ῥαὰβ ἡ πόρνη οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ὑποδεξαμένη τοὺς ἀγγέλους καὶ ἑτέρᾳ ὁδῷ ἐκβαλοῦσα; 26 ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν, οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις χωρὶς ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν.

14 Of what use is it, my brethren, if a man claims to have faith, and has no deeds to shew for it? Can faith save him then? 15 Here is a brother, here is a sister, going naked, left without the means to secure their daily food; 16 if one of you says to them, Go in peace, warm yourselves and take your fill, without providing for their bodily needs, of what use is it? 17 Thus faith, if it has no deeds to shew for itself, has lost its own principle of life. 18 We shall be inclined to say to him, Thou hast faith, but I have deeds to shew. Shew me this faith of thine without any deeds to prove it, and I am prepared, by my deeds, to prove my own faith.[3] 19 Thou believest that there is only one God; that is well enough, but then, so do the devils, and the devils shrink from him in terror. 20 Rash soul, wouldst thou be assured that faith without deeds to shew has no life in it? 21 Think of our father Abraham; was it not by his deeds that he found approval, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 See how his faith conspired with deeds done, and through those deeds his faith was realized. 23 Thus he confirmed the words of scripture, which tell us, Abraham put his faith in God, and it was reckoned virtue in him, and he earned the title of God’s friend.[4] 24 You see, then, that it takes deeds as well as faith if a man is to be justified. 25 Or again, how did Rahab, the harlot, win God’s approval? Was it not by her deeds, when she harboured the spies and sent them home by a different way?[5] 26 Body separated from spirit is a dead body, and faith separated from good deeds is a dead faith.

14 Quid proderit, fratres mei, si fidem quis dicat se habere, opera autem non habeat? numquid poterit fides salvare eum? 15 Si autem frater et soror nudi sint, et indigeant victu quotidiano, 16 dicat autem aliquis ex vobis illis: Ite in pace, calefacimini et saturamini: non dederitis autem eis quæ necessaria sunt corpori, quid proderit? 17 Sic et fides, si non habeat opera, mortua est in semetipsa. 18 Sed dicet quis: Tu fidem habes, et ego opera habeo: ostende mihi fidem tuam sine operibus: et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam. 19 Tu credis quoniam unus est Deus: bene facis: et dæmones credunt, et contremiscunt. 20 Vis autem scire, o homo inanis, quoniam fides sine operibus mortua est? 21 Abraham pater noster nonne ex operibus justificatus est, offerens Isaac filium suum super altare? 22 Vides quoniam fides cooperabatur operibus illius: et ex operibus fides consummata est? 23 Et suppleta est Scriptura, dicens: Credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam, et amicus Dei appellatus est. 24 Videtis quoniam ex operibus justificatur homo, et non ex fide tantum? 25 Similiter et Rahab meretrix, nonne ex operibus justificata est, suscipiens nuntios, et alia via ejiciens? 26 Sicut enim corpus sine spiritu mortuum est, ita et fides sine operibus mortua est.

[1] ‘Men already on their trial’; in the Greek, ‘men who are to be tried’.

[2] ‘Mercy gives its judgement an honourable welcome’; literally, ‘mercy exalts judgement’. This appears to be the sense of the Latin text, which is perhaps due to an error of copying. The sense of the Greek is, ‘Mercy can boast over (its) judgement’.

[3] ‘We shall be inclined to say’; the phrase here used commonly introduces an objection, ‘But someone will say’. But such a rendering would not fit the present context.

[4] Gen. 15.6.

[5] Jos. 2.1-16.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd