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James 5
New English Translation

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud[a] over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure![b] 4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[c] 5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.[d] 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.[e]

Patience in Suffering

7 So be patient, brothers and sisters,[f] until the Lord’s return.[g] Think of how the farmer waits[h] for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient[i] for it until it receives the early and late rains. 8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters,[j] so that you may not be judged. See, the judge stands before the gates![k] 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters,[l] take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name. 11 Think of how we regard[m] as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.[n] 12 And above all, my brothers and sisters,[o] do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.

Prayer for the Sick

13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint[p] him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up—and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.[q] 16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.[r] 17 Elijah was a human being[s] like us, and he prayed earnestly[t] that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! 18 Then[u] he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest.

19 My brothers and sisters,[v] if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path[w] will save that person’s[x] soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Footnotes

  1. James 5:1 tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”
  2. James 5:3 tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”
  3. James 5:4 tn Traditionally, “Lord of Hosts” or “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”
  4. James 5:5 sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).
  5. James 5:6 tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”
  6. James 5:7 tn Grk “brothers”; this phrase occurs again three times in the paragraph. See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
  7. James 5:7 tn Or “advent”; or “coming” (also in v. 8).
  8. James 5:7 tn Grk “Behold! The farmer waits.”
  9. James 5:7 tn Grk “being patient.”
  10. James 5:9 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
  11. James 5:9 sn The term gates is used metaphorically here. The physical referent would be the entrances to the city, but the author uses the term to emphasize the imminence of the judge’s approach.
  12. James 5:10 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
  13. James 5:11 tn Grk “Behold! We regard…”
  14. James 5:11 sn An allusion to Exod 34:6; Neh 9:17; Pss 86:15; 102:13; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2.
  15. James 5:12 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
  16. James 5:14 tn Grk “anointing.”
  17. James 5:15 tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”
  18. James 5:16 tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”
  19. James 5:17 tn Although it is certainly true that Elijah was a “man,” here ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) has been translated as “human being” because the emphasis in context is not on Elijah’s masculine gender, but on the common humanity he shared with the author and the readers.
  20. James 5:17 tn Grk “he prayed with prayer” (using a Hebrew idiom to show intensity).
  21. James 5:18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events.
  22. James 5:19 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
  23. James 5:20 tn Grk “from the error of his way” (using the same root as the verb “to wander, to err” in the first part of the verse).
  24. James 5:20 tn Grk “his soul”; the referent (the sinner mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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James 5
American Standard Version

5 Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony [a]against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brethren, until the [b]coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until [c]it receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Murmur not, brethren, one against another, that ye be not judged: behold, the judge standeth before the doors. 10 Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we call them blessed that endured: ye have heard of the [d]patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.

12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath: but [e]let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; that ye fall not under judgment.

13 Is any among you suffering? let him pray. Is any cheerful? let him sing praise. 14 Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, [f]anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. 17 Elijah was a man of like [g]passions with us, and he prayed [h]fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

19 My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 [i]let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.

Footnotes

  1. James 5:3 Or, unto
  2. James 5:7 Greek presence.
  3. James 5:7 Or, he
  4. James 5:11 Or, endurance
  5. James 5:12 Or, let yours be the yea, yea, and the nay, nay. Compare Mt. 5:37.
  6. James 5:14 Or, having anointed
  7. James 5:17 Or, nature
  8. James 5:17 Greek with prayer.
  9. James 5:20 Some ancient authorities read know ye.
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