James 5

CHAPTER 5

Miseries of the Rich

^1aCome now, ^byou rich, ^ccry, howling over your miseries which are coming upon you.

^2aYour riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.

³Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up such treasure ^ain the last days!

⁴Behold, ^athe pay of the laborers who mowed your fields—that which has been withheld by you—cries out against you; and ^bthe outcries of those who did the harvesting have reached the ears of ^cthe ¹Lord of ²Sabaoth.

⁵You have ^alived luxuriously on the earth and lived in self-indulgence. You have ¹fattened your hearts in a ^bday of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned and ^amurdered ^bthe righteous man; ¹he does not resist you.

Patience and Perseverance

⁷Therefore be patient, ^abrothers, ^buntil the coming of the Lord. Behold, ^cthe farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient about it, until ¹it receives ^dthe early and late rains.

^8aYou too be patient; ^bstrengthen your hearts, for ^cthe coming of the Lord is ^dat hand.

^9aDo not groan, ^bbrothers, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, ^cthe Judge is standing ^1dright at the ²door.

¹⁰As an example, ^abrothers, of suffering and patience, take ^bthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

¹¹Behold, we count those ^ablessed who persevere. You have heard of ^bthe ¹perseverance of Job and have seen ^cthe ²outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that ^dthe Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

¹²But above all, ^amy brothers, ^bdo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let ¹your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

¹³Is anyone among you ^asuffering? ^bThen he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to ^csing praises.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for ^athe elders of the church and they are to pray over him, ^1banointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵And the ^aprayer ¹offered in faith will ^bsave the one who is sick, and the Lord will ^craise him up, and if he has committed sins, ²they will be forgiven him.

¹⁶Therefore, ^aconfess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ^bhealed. ^cThe effective ¹prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

¹⁷Elijah was ^aa man with a nature like ours, and ^bhe prayed ¹earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for ^cthree years and six months.

¹⁸Then he ^aprayed again, and ^bthe ¹sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers, ^aif any among you strays from ^bthe truth and one turns him back,

²⁰let him know that ¹he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will ^asave his soul from death and will ^bcover a multitude of sins.