141 Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 3 "Son of man , these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity . Should I be consulted by them at all ? 4 "Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart , puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity , and then comes to the prophet , I the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols , 5 in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols ."' 6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel , 'Thus says the Lord GOD , " Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations . 7 "For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart , puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity , and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the Lord will be brought to answer him in My own person. 8 "I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb , and I will cut him off from among My people . So you will know that I am the Lord . 9 "But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word , it is I, the Lord , who have prevailed upon that prophet , and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel . 10 "They will bear the punishment of their iniquity ; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, 11 in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions . Thus they will be My people , and I shall be their God ,"' declares the Lord GOD ."
12 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying , 13 "Son of man , if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness , and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread , send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast , 14 even though these three men , Noah , Daniel and Job were in its midst , by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves ," declares the Lord GOD . 15 "If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so e that no one would pass through it because e of the beasts , 16 though these three men were in its midst , as I live ," declares the Lord GOD , "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters . They alone would be delivered , but the country would be desolate . 17 "Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say , 'Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,' 18 even though these three men were in its midst , as I live ," declares the Lord GOD , "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters , but they alone would be delivered . 19 "Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, 20 even though Noah , Daniel and Job were in its midst , as I live ," declares the Lord GOD , "they could not deliver either their son or their daughter . They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness ." 21 For thus says the Lord GOD , "How much more e when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem : sword , famine , wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it! 22 "Yet, behold , survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters . Behold , they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions ; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. 23 "Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions , for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever e I did to it," declares the Lord GOD .
151 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 2 "Son of man , how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest ? 3 "Can wood be taken from it to make anything , or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel ? 4 "If it has been put into the fire for fuel , and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred , is it then useful for anything ? 5 "Behold , while it is intact , it is not made into anything . How much less , when the fire has consumed it and it is charred , can it still be made into anything ! 6 "Therefore , thus says the Lord GOD , 'As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest , which I have given to the fire for fuel , so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; 7 and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire , yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord , when I set My face against them. 8 'Thus I will make the land desolate , because they have acted unfaithfully ,' " declares the Lord GOD .
21 My brethren , do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism . 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes , and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes , 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes , and say , "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man , "You stand over there , or sit down by my footstool ," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves , and become judges with evil motives ? 5 Listen , my beloved brethren : did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man . Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court ? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called ?
8 If , however , you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture , " YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF ," you are doing well . 9 But if you show partiality , you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors . 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all . 11 For He who said , " DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY ," also said , " DO NOT COMMIT MURDER ." Now if you do not commit adultery , but do commit murder , you have become a transgressor of the law . 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty . 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy ; mercy triumphs over judgment .
14 What use is it, my brethren , if someone says he has faith but he has no works ? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food , 16 and one of you says to them, " Go in peace , be warmed and be filled ," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body , what use is that? 17 Even so faith , if it has no works , is dead , being by itself . 18 But someone may well say , "You have faith and I have works ; show me your faith without the works , and I will show you my faith by my works ." 19 You believe that God is one . You do well ; the demons also believe , and shudder . 20 But are you willing to recognize , you foolish fellow , that faith without works is useless ? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar ? 22 You see that faith was working with his works , and as a result of the works , faith was perfected ; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says , " AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD , AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS ," and he was called the friend of God . 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone . 25 In the same way , was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way ? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead , so also faith without works is dead .
