If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?
Parallel translations
- WEB and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”; and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?
- KJV And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
- NKJV and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
- NASB and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
- NLT and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Offering only kind words—"be warmed and filled"—without meeting physical needs is worthless. Empty well-wishing proves a faith that does nothing.
Overview
James completes the illustration: pious words that ignore practical need accomplish nothing for the suffering or the speaker. Such hollow religion exposes a faith devoid of love. The example shows that genuine faith expresses itself in tangible compassion, not mere sentiment, just as God's love acted concretely in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 3:27–28Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.
- 1 Jn 3:16–18By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
- Matt 25:42–45For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,
- Rom 12:9Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
- 2 Cor 8:8I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others.
- Matt 14:15–16When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
- Matt 15:32Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”
- Job 22:7–9You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The wisdom from above and the royal law of love are the life of those who belong to 'our glorious Lord Jesus Christ' — faith in him made visible in works.
How James 2:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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