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have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?[a]

Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor[b] in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?(A) But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court?

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Footnotes

  1. 2:4 When Christians show favoritism to the rich they are guilty of the worst kind of prejudice and discrimination. The author says that such Christians set themselves up as judges who judge not by divine law but by the basest, self-serving motives.
  2. 2:5 The poor, “God’s poor” of the Old Testament, were seen by Jesus as particularly open to God for belief in and reliance on him alone (Lk 6:20). God’s law cannot tolerate their oppression in any way (Jas 2:9).

have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges(A) with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters:(B) Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world(C) to be rich in faith(D) and to inherit the kingdom(E) he promised those who love him?(F) But you have dishonored the poor.(G) Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?(H)

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