141 Then certain of the responsible men of Israel came to me and took their seats before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 Son of man, these men have taken their false gods into their hearts and put before their faces the sin which is the cause of their fall: am I to give ear when they come to me for directions? 4 For this cause say to them, These are the words of the Lord: Every man of Israel who has taken his false god into his heart, and put before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself in agreement with the number of his false gods; 5 So as to take the children of Israel in the thoughts of their hearts, because they have become strange to me through their false gods. 6 For this cause say to the children of Israel, These are the words of the Lord: Come back and give up your false gods and let your faces be turned from your disgusting things. 7 When any one of the men of Israel, or of those from other lands who are living in Israel, who has become strange to me, and takes his false gods into his heart, and puts before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, comes to the prophet to get directions from me; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself: 8 And my face will be turned against that man, and I will make him a sign and a common saying, cutting him off from among my people; and you will be certain that I am the Lord. 9 And if the prophet, tricked by deceit, says anything, it is I the Lord by whom he has been tricked, and I will put out my hand against him, and he will be cut off from among my people Israel. 10 And the punishment of their sin will be on them: the sin of the prophet will be the same as the sin of him who goes to him for directions; 11 So that the children of Israel may no longer go wandering away from me, or make themselves unclean with all their wrongdoing; but they will be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord.
12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 13 Son of man, when a land, sinning against me, does wrong, and my hand is stretched out against it, and the support of its bread is broken, and I make it short of food, cutting off man and beast from it: 14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, only themselves would they keep safe by their righteousness, says the Lord. 15 Or if I send evil beasts through the land causing destruction and making it waste, so that no man may go through because of the beasts: 16 Even if these three men were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep safe their sons or daughters, but only themselves, and the land would be made waste. 17 Or if I send a sword against that land, and say, Sword, go through the land, cutting off from it man and beast: 18 Even if these three men were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep safe their sons or daughters, but only themselves. 19 Or if I send disease into that land, letting loose my wrath on it in blood, cutting off from it man and beast: 20 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep son or daughter safe; only themselves would they keep safe through their righteousness. 21 For this is what the Lord has said: How much more when I send my four bitter punishments on Jerusalem, the sword and need of food and evil beasts and disease, cutting off from it man and beast? 22 But truly, there will still be a small band who will be safe, even sons and daughters: and they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings: and you will be comforted about the evil which I have sent on Jerusalem, even about everything I have sent on it. 23 They will give you comfort when you see their ways and their doings: and you will be certain that not for nothing have I done all the things I have done in it, says the Lord.
151 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, what is the vine-tree more than any branching tree which is among the trees of the woods? 3 Will its wood be used for any work? do men make of it a pin for hanging any vessel on? 4 See, it is put into the fire for burning: the fire has made a meal of its two ends and the middle part of it is burned; is it good for any work? 5 Truly, before it was cut down, it was not used for any purpose: how much less, when the fire has made a meal of it and it is burned, will it be made into anything? 6 For this cause the Lord has said: Like the vine-tree among the trees of the woods which I have given to the fire for burning, so will I give the people of Jerusalem. 7 And my face will be turned against them; and though they have come out of the fire they will be burned up by it; and it will be clear to you that I am the Lord when my face is turned against them. 8 And I will make the land a waste because they have done evil, says the Lord.
21 My brothers, if you have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, do not take a man's position into account. 2 For if a man comes into your Synagogue in fair clothing and with a gold ring, and a poor man comes in with dirty clothing, 3 And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet; 4 Is there not a division in your minds? have you not become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him? 6 But you have put the poor man to shame. Are not the men of wealth rulers over you? do they not take you by force before their judges? 7 Do they not say evil of the holy name which was given to you?
8 But if you keep the greatest law of all, as it is given in the holy Writings, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself, you do well: 9 But if you take a man's position into account, you do evil, and are judged as evil-doers by the law. 10 For anyone who keeps all the law, but makes a slip in one point, is judged to have gone against it all. 11 For he who said, Do not be untrue in married life, is the same who said, Put no man to death. Now if you are not untrue in married life, but you put a man to death, the law is broken. 12 Let your words and your acts be those of men who are to be judged by the law which makes free. 13 For the man who has had no mercy will be judged without mercy, but mercy takes pride in overcoming judging.
14 What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation? 15 If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food, 16 And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this? 17 Even so faith without works is dead. 18 But a man may say, You have faith and I have works; let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works. 19 You have the belief that God is one, and you do well: the evil spirits have the same belief, shaking with fear. 20 Do you not see, O foolish man, that faith without works is of no use? 21 Was not the righteousness of Abraham our father judged by his works, when he made an offering of Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that his faith was helping his works and was made complete by them; 23 And the holy Writings were put into effect which said, And Abraham had faith in God and it was put to his account as righteousness; and he was named the friend of God. 24 You see that a man's righteousness is judged by his works and not by his faith only. 25 And in the same way, was not the righteousness of Rahab, the loose woman, judged by her works, when she took into her house those who were sent and let them go out by another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead even so faith without works is dead.
