Forefeast of Theophany

What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, ¹⁶and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. ¹⁸Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder. ²⁰But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? ²¹Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? ²²You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected. ²³So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. ²⁵In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? ²⁶For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen, ³⁸saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!”

³⁹Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

⁴⁰He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”

⁴¹When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it, ⁴²saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³For the days will come on you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation.”