YAK. 2
Onyo dhidi ya Upendeleo
1 tNdugu zangu, imani ya Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo, Bwana wa utukufu, msiwe nayo kwa kupendelea watu. 2 tMaana akiingia katika sinagogi lenu mtu mwenye pete ya dhahabu na mavazi mazuri; kisha akiingia na maskini, mwenye mavazi mabovu; 3 nanyi mkimstahi yule aliyevaa mavazi mazuri, na kumwambia, Keti wewe hapa mahali pazuri; na kumwambia yule maskini, Simama wewe pale, au keti miguuni pangu, 4 je! Hamkufanya hitilafu mioyoni mwenu, mkawa waamuzi wenye mawazo mabovu? 5 tNdugu zangu wapenzi, sikilizeni, Je! Mungu hakuwachagua maskini wa dunia wawe matajiri wa imani na warithi wa ufalme aliowaahidia wampendao? 6 Bali ninyi mmemvunjia heshima maskini. Je! Matajiri hawawaonei ninyi na kuwavuta mbele ya viti vya hukumu? 7 Hawalitukani jina lile zuri mliloitwa? 8 tLakini mkiitimiza ile sheria ya kifalme kama ilivyoandikwa, Mpende jirani yako kama nafsi yako, mwatenda vema. 9 tBali mkiwapendelea watu, mwafanya dhambi na kuhukumiwa na sheria kuwa wakosaji. 10 tMaana mtu awaye yote atakayeishika sheria yote, ila akajikwaa katika neno moja, amekosa juu ya yote. 11 tKwa maana yeye aliyesema, Usizini, pia alisema, Usiue. Basi ijapokuwa hukuzini, lakini umeua, umekuwa mvunja sheria. 12 tSemeni ninyi, na kutenda kama watu watakaohukumiwa kwa sheria ya uhuru.
13 tMaana hukumu haina huruma kwake yeye asiyeona huruma. Huruma hujitukuza juu ya hukumu.Imani bila Matendo Imekufa
14 tNdugu zangu, yafaa nini, mtu akisema ya kwamba anayo imani, lakini hana matendo? Je! Ile imani yaweza kumwokoa? 15 Ikiwa ndugu mwanamume au ndugu mwanamke yu uchi na kupungukiwa na riziki, 16 tna mtu wa kwenu akawaambia, Enendeni zenu kwa amani, mkaote moto na kushiba, lakini asiwape mahitaji ya mwili, yafaa nini? 17 Vivyo hivyo na imani, isipokuwa ina matendo, imekufa nafsini mwake. 18 tLakini mtu atasema, Wewe unayo imani, nami ninayo matendo. Nionyeshe imani yako pasipo matendo, nami nitakuonyesha imani yangu kwa njia ya matendo yangu. 19 tWewe waamini ya kuwa Mungu ni mmoja; watenda vema. Mashetani nao waamini na kutetemeka. 20 Lakini wataka kujua, wewe mwanadamu usiye kitu, kwamba imani pasipo matendo haizai? 21 tJe! Baba yetu Ibrahimu hakuhesabiwa kuwa ana haki kwa matendo, hapo alipomtoa Isaka mwanawe juu ya madhabahu? 22 tWaona kwamba imani ilitenda kazi pamoja na matendo yake, na ya kwamba imani ile ilikamilishwa kwa njia ya matendo yale. 23 tMaandiko yale yakatimizwa yaliyonena, Ibrahimu alimwamini Mungu, ikahesabiwa kwake kuwa ni haki; naye aliitwa rafiki wa Mungu. 24 tMwaona kwamba mwanadamu huhesabiwa kuwa ana haki kwa matendo yake; si kwa imani peke yake. 25 tVivyo hivyo na Rahabu, yule kahaba naye, je! Hakuhesabiwa kuwa ana haki kwa matendo, hapo alipowakaribisha wajumbe, akawatoa nje kwa njia nyingine? 26 tMaana kama vile mwili pasipo roho umekufa, vivyo hivyo na imani pasipo matendo imekufa.
JAMES 2
Warning against Having //Favorites
1 My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you won't treat some people better than others. 2 Suppose a rich person wearing fancy clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings. And suppose a poor person dressed in worn-out clothes also comes. 3 You must not give the best seat to the one in fancy clothes and tell the one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor.
4 This is the same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would be acting like a crooked judge.
5 My dear friends, pay attention. God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. God has also promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who loves him. 6 You mistreat the poor. But isn't it the rich who boss you around and drag you off to court?
7 Aren't they the ones who make fun of your Lord?
8 t You will do all right, if you obey the most important lawt in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves.
9 But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.
10 t If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all.
11 t The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but murder someone, you still have broken God's Law.
12 Speak and act like people who will be judged by the law that sets us free.
13 Do this, because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful!tFaith and Works
14 My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show you really do have faith? Can this kind of faith save you? 15 If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food, 16 you shouldn't just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help?
17 Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!
18 Suppose someone disagrees and says, “It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds.”
I would answer, “Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them.”
19 You surely believe there is only one God. That's fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear.
20 Does some stupid person want proof that faith without deeds is useless? 21 t Well, our ancestor Abraham pleased God by putting his son Isaac on the altar to sacrifice him. 22 Now you see how Abraham's faith and deeds worked together. He proved his faith was real by what he did.
23 t This is what the Scriptures mean by saying, “Abraham had faith in God, and God accepted him.” That's how Abraham became God's friend.
24 You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe.
25 t For example, Rahab had been a prostitute. But she pleased God when she welcomed the spies and sent them home by another way.
26 Anyone who doesn't breathe is dead, and faith that doesn't do anything is just as dead!