James 5

Revised Geneva Translation

5 Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

² Your riches are corrupt, and your garments are moth-eaten.

³ Your gold and silver are corroded. And the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as if it were fire. You have heaped up treasure for the last days.

⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who have reaped your fields cry out (those which are fraudulently withheld by you). And the cries of those reapers are entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

⁵ You have lived in pleasure on the Earth and been riotous. You have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

⁶ You have condemned and have killed the just. And he has not resisted you.

⁷ Therefore brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth (and has long patience for it) until he receives the early and the late rain.

⁸ Therefore, you also be patient, and settle your hearts. For the coming of the Lord draws near.

⁹ Do not groan against one another, brothers, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge stands before the door.

¹⁰ My brothers, take the Prophets as an example of suffering adversity and of long patience, who have spoken in the Name of the Lord.

¹¹ Behold, we count those blessed who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have known what end the Lord made. For the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

¹² But before all things, my brothers, do not swear - not by Heaven, nor by Earth, nor by any other oath. But let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’, ‘no’, lest you fall into condemnation.

¹³ Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing.

¹⁴ Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church. And let them pray for him and anoint him with oil in the Name of the Lord.

¹⁵ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick. And the Lord shall raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven.

¹⁶ Acknowledge your faults one to another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. For the fervent prayers of the righteous avail much.

¹⁷ Elijah was a man subject to similar passions as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it did not rain 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 Brothers, if any of you have erred from the truth, and someone has converted him,

²⁰ let him know that the one who has returned a sinner from wandering shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.