Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, you rich(A) people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your wealth is ruined and your clothes are moth-eaten.(B) 3 Your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You stored up treasure in the last days!(C) 4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers(D) who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.[a](E) 5 You have lived luxuriously on the land and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts(F) for[b] the day of slaughter.(G) 6 You have condemned—you have murdered—the righteous man; he does not resist you.(H)
Waiting for the Lord
7 Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.(I) 8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.(J)
9 Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!(K)
10 Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience. 11 See, we count as blessed those who have endured.[c] You have heard of Job’s endurance(L) and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.(M)
Truthful Speech
12 Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.(N) Your “yes” must be “yes,” and your “no” must be “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.[d]
Effective Prayer
13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.(O) 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.(P) 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.(Q) 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.(R) 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.(S) 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.(T)
19 My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth,(U) and someone turns him back,(V) 20 let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.(W)
Footnotes
- James 5:4 Gk Sabaoth; this word is a transliteration of the Hb word for Hosts, or Armies.
- James 5:5 Or hearts in
- James 5:11 Or have persevered
- James 5:12 Other mss read fall into hypocrisy
Cross references
- 5:1 : Pr 11:28; Lk 6:24
- 5:2 : Jb 13:28; Is 50:9; Mt 6:19-20
- 5:3 : Rm 2:5; Jms 5:8
- 5:4 : Lv 19:13; Jb 24:10-11; Jr 22:13; Mal 3:5
- 5:4 : Dt 24:15; Rm 9:29
- 5:5 : Jb 21:13; Am 6:1
- 5:5 : Jr 12:3; 25:34
- 5:6 : Heb 10:38; Jms 4:2
- 5:7 : Dt 11:14; Jr 5:24; Hos 6:3
- 5:8 : Rm 13:11; Php 4:5; 1Pt 4:7
- 5:9 : Mt 24:33; 1Co 4:5; Jms 4:12; 1Pt 4:5
- 5:11 : Jb 1:21-22; 2:10; 42:10-12
- 5:11 : Ex 34:6; Nm 14:18; Mt 5:10
- 5:12 : Mt 5:33-37; 23:16-22; Mk 7:9-13
- 5:13 : Ps 50:15; Col 3:16
- 5:14 : Mk 6:13; 16:18
- 5:15 : Is 33:24; Mt 9:2; Mk 2:5; Lk 24:47
- 5:16 : Nm 11:2; Mt 3:6; Jn 9:31; 1Pt 2:24
- 5:17 : 1Kg 17:1; 18:1; Lk 4:25; Ac 14:15
- 5:18 : 1Kg 18:41-45; Jms 3:17-18
- 5:19 : Mt 18:15; Gl 6:1; Jms 3:14
- 5:19 : Ps 51:13; Dn 12:3; Mal 2:6; Lk 1:16
- 5:20 : Pr 10:12; Rm 11:14; 1Pt 4:8