James 5
New King James Version
Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged
5 Come now, you (A)rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your (B)riches [a]are corrupted, and (C)your 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. (D)You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed (E)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and (F)the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of [b]Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and [c]luxury; you have [d]fattened your hearts [e]as 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 [f]is at hand.
9 Do not [g]grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be [h]condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 (G)My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and (H)patience. 11 Indeed (I)we count them blessed who (J)endure. You have heard of (K)the perseverance of Job and seen (L)the end intended by the Lord—that (M)the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brethren, (N)do 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 [i]judgment.
Meeting Specific Needs(O)
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him (P)pray. Is anyone cheerful? (Q)Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, (R)anointing 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. (S)And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 [j]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. (T)The effective, [k]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man (U)with a nature like ours, and (V)he 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 (W)again, 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 (X)turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way (Y)will save [l]a soul from death and (Z)cover a multitude of sins.
Footnotes
- James 5:2 have rotted
- James 5:4 Lit., in Heb., Hosts
- James 5:5 indulgence
- James 5:5 Lit. nourished
- James 5:5 NU omits as
- James 5:8 has drawn near
- James 5:9 Lit. groan
- James 5:9 NU, M judged
- James 5:12 M hypocrisy
- James 5:16 NU Therefore confess your sins
- James 5:16 supplication
- James 5:20 NU his soul
James 5
Complete Jewish Bible
5 Next, a word for the rich: weep and wail over the hardships coming upon you! 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes have become moth-eaten; 3 your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat up your flesh like fire! This is the acharit-hayamim, and you have been storing up wealth! 4 Listen! The wages you have fraudulently withheld from the workers who mowed your fields are calling out against you, and the outcries of those who harvested have reached the ears of Adonai-Tzva’ot. 5 You have led a life of luxury and self-indulgence here on earth — in a time of slaughter, you have gone on eating to your heart’s content. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the innocent; they have not withstood you.
7 So, brothers, be patient until the Lord returns. See how the farmer waits for the precious “fruit of the earth” — he is patient over it until it receives the fall and spring rains.[a] 8 You too, be patient; keep up your courage; for the Lord’s return is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers, so that you won’t come under condemnation — look! the Judge is standing at the door! 10 As an example of suffering mistreatment and being patient, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of Adonai. 11 Look, we regard those who persevered as blessed. You have heard of the perseverance of Iyov, and you know what the purpose of Adonai was, that Adonai is very compassionate and merciful.[b]
12 Above all, brothers, stop swearing oaths — not “By heaven,” not “By the earth,” and not by any other formula; rather, let your “Yes” be simply “Yes” and your “No” simply “No,” so that you won’t fall under condemnation.
13 Is someone among you in trouble? He should pray. Is someone feeling good? He should sing songs of praise.
14 Is someone among you ill? He should call for the elders of the congregation. They will pray for him and rub olive oil on him in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer offered with trust will heal the one who is ill — the Lord will restore his health; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 17 Eliyahu was only a human being like us; yet he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and no rain fell on the Land for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the Land produced its crops.
19 My brothers, if one of you wanders from the truth, and someone causes him to return, 20 you should know that whoever turns a sinner from his wandering path will save him from death and cover many sins.[c]
Footnotes
- James 5:7 Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23
- James 5:11 Exodus 34:6; Psalms 103:8; 111:4
- James 5:20 Proverbs 10:12
James 5
English Standard Version
Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, (A)you rich, weep and howl for the (B)miseries that are coming upon you. 2 (C)Your riches have rotted and (D)your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. (E)You have laid up treasure (F)in the last days. 4 Behold, (G)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and (H)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of (I)the Lord of hosts. 5 (J)You have lived on the earth in luxury and (K)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in (L)a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and (M)murdered (N)the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives (O)the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. (P)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord (Q)is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, (R)so that you may not be judged; behold, (S)the Judge is standing (T)at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take (U)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of (V)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen (W)the purpose of the Lord, how (X)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brothers, (Y)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 under condemnation.
The Prayer of Faith
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him (Z)sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, (AA)anointing him with 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 (AB)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, (AC)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, (AD)that you may be healed. (AE)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.[b] 17 Elijah was a man (AF)with a nature like ours, and (AG)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for (AH)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 (AI)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, (AJ)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone (AK)brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering (AL)will save his soul from death and (AM)will cover a multitude of sins.
Footnotes
- James 5:7 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 9, 10, 12, 19
- James 5:16 Or The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
