December 27

¹My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

²For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

³And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

⁴Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

⁵Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

⁶But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

⁷Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

⁸If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

⁹But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

¹¹For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

¹²So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

¹³For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

¹And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

²And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.

³And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

⁴And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.

⁵And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.

⁶Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.

⁷But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

⁸And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

⁹What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.

¹⁰And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:

¹¹This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

¹²And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.