Iakopus 2
1 RI ai ko, komail poson atail Kaun Iesus Kriitus en lingan, der lipiliki aramas amen.
My friends, are you really trying to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with discrimination?
2 Pwe ma ol amen pan iang omail saraui, me kapwateki ring kold likau lingan, o pil samama amen, me a tuken likau o sakanekan pan pedelong,
Suppose a visitor should enter your synagogue, with gold rings and in grand clothes, and suppose a poor man should come in also, in shabby clothes,
3 A ma komail pan kilekilang me mi nan likau lingan, o komail pan indang i: Re kotido kaipokedi met, wasa mau, ap indang me samama: Koe en uda mo, de met impan utipa!
and you show more respect to the visitor who is wearing grand clothes, and say – ‘There is a good seat for you here,’ but to the poor man – ‘You must stand; or sit down there by my footstool,’
4 Iaduen komail lipilipil nan pung omail, o komail wiala saunkapung kan ni omail lamalam sued?
Haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves, and used evil standards of judgement?
5 Ri ai kompok kan, komail rong! Kot sota kotin piladar me samama nan sappa et, me kapwapwaki poson, o me pan sosoki wei, me a kotin inauki ong irail, me pok ong i?
Listen, my dear friends. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the things of this world to be rich through their faith, and to possess the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?
6 A komail mamaleki me samama o. Kaidin me kapwapwa kan kin wia sued ong komail o pangalang komail mol en kadeik kan?
But you – you insult the poor man! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you? Isn’t it they who drag you into law courts?
7 Irail sota kin lalaue mar isou, me komail maranekier?
Isn’t it they who malign that honourable name spoken over you at your baptism?
8 Ma komail kapwaiada kapung isou duen masan o: Koe en pok ong men imp om dueta pein uk, nan komail wia me mau.
If you keep the royal law which runs – “You must love your neighbour as you love yourself,” you are doing right;
9 A ma komail pan lipilipiliki aramas, komail kin wia dip, o kapung pan kadiarok ong komail, me komail me dipan.
but, if you discriminate, you commit a sin, and stand convicted by that same law of being offenders against it.
10 Pwe meamen kapwaiada kapung pon, ap kawela kusoned eu, nan i me tiakedi karos.
For a person who has laid the Law, as a whole, to heart, but has failed in one particular, is accountable for breaking all its provisions.
11 Pwe me kotin masanier: Koe der kamal, i me pil masanier: Koe der kamela aramas! Ari, ma koe sota kamal, a ma koe kamela aramas, nan koe me tiakedier kapung o.
He who said “You must not commit adultery” also said “You must not murder.” If, then, you commit murder but not adultery, you are still an offender against the Law.
12 Komail ari lokaia o wiawia duen irail, me pan pakadeikada ren kapung en kamaio.
Therefore, speak and act as people who are to be judged by the “Law of freedom.”
13 A me sota kin kadek, pan lodi ong kadeik apwal, a me kadek, kin suaiki kadeik o.
For there will be justice without mercy for the person who has not acted mercifully. Mercy triumphs over Justice.
14 Ri ai ko, da katepan aramas amen, me pan inda, me a poson mia, ap sota a wiawia mau kan? Iaduen poson pan kak dorela i?
My friends, what good is it if someone claims that they have faith, but they do not prove it by actions? Can such faith save them?
15 Ma ri atail ol de li amen mia, me solar a likau, o solar kan ar kisin manga kaukaule,
Suppose some brother or sister should be in need of clothes and of daily bread,
16 A ma amen komail pan indang i: Kola popol rangerang o mangamanga! Ap sota, me komail pan ki ong i, me mau ong pali war a, da katepa?
and one of you says to them – ‘Go, and peace be with you; keep warm and eat well!’ and yet you do not actually give them the necessities of life, what good would it be to them?
17 Iduen poson, ma a kelep o sota wiawia iang, nan a melar.
In just the same way faith, if not followed by actions, is, by itself, a lifeless thing.
18 A ele amen pan inda: Om poson mia, a ai wiawia kan mia; kasale ong ia om poson, me sota wiawia kan mia, a ngai pan kasale ong uk ai poson ni ai wiawia kan.
Someone, indeed, may say – ‘You are a man of faith, and I am a man of action.’ ‘Then show me your faith,’ I reply, ‘apart from any actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions.’
19 Koe kamelele me Kot me ta men mia, me mau, nan tewil akan pil kin kamelele ap masakada.
It is a part of your faith, is it not, that there is one God? Good; yet even the demons have that faith, and tremble at the thought.
20 A koe aramas aklapalap, ma koe men dedeki, me poson me mal kot, ma sota wiawia kan iang?
Now do you really want to understand, fool, how it is that faith without actions leads to nothing?
21 Iaduen sam atail Apraam? A sota pung kila a wiawia kan, ni a pan mairongki sapwilim a kisin putak Isaak pon pei saraui?
Look at our ancestor, Abraham. Was he not justified by his actions after he had offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?
22 I me koe kilang, me poson sauasa a wiawia kan, o poson unsok kilar a wiawia kan.
You see how, in his case, faith and actions went together; that his faith was perfected as the result of his actions;
23 Ari masan o pwaidar: Apraam poson Kot, o i me a pung kilar o a maraneki: Kompoke pan Kot.
and that in this way the words of scripture came true – ‘Abraham believed God, and that was regarded by God as righteousness,’ and ‘He was called the friend of God.’
24 Komail ari kilanger, me aramas amen pan pung kila a wiawia kan a kaidin poson ta.
You see, then, that a person is justified by actions, and not by faith alone.
25 Pil dueta Raap, li sued amen, kaidin a wiawia kan, me a pung kilar, ni a kasamo men en kadar, o kadar ir ala ni apot al toror?
Wasn’t it the same with the prostitute, Rahab? Was she not justified by her actions, after she had welcomed the messengers and helped them escape by another road?
26 Pwe duen pali war mela, ma sota ngen, iduen poson a mela, ma sota wiawia kan iang.
Just as a body is dead without a spirit, so faith is dead without actions.
