For judgment is without mercy: James adds a warning emphasizing that God will judge and condemn those who show no mercy. The verse is meant apparently to serve as a connection to verse 12 and a transition to verse 14. We can see a chiasmus (X structure) in this verse:

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .