Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow 8we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? rIt is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, s“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. tAll such boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, uto him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

5 Come now, you arich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your briches 1are corrupted, and cyour garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. dYou have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed ethe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and fthe cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of 2Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and 3luxury; you have 4fattened your hearts 5as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord 6is at hand.

9 Do not 7grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be 8condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 gMy brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and hpatience. 11 Indeed iwe count them blessed who jendure. You have heard of kthe perseverance of Job and seen lthe end intended by the Lord—that mthe Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brethren, ndo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into 9judgment.

Meeting Specific Needs

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him opray. Is anyone cheerful? pLet him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, qanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. rAnd if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 1Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. sThe effective, 2fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man twith a nature like ours, and uhe prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed vagain, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone wturns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way xwill save 3a soul from death and ycover a multitude of sins.