Warning to the Rich

Come now, you rich(A) people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. Your wealth is ruined and your clothes are moth-eaten.(B) Your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You stored up treasure in the last days!(C) Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers(D) who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.[a](E) You have lived luxuriously on the land and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts(F) for[b] the day of slaughter.(G) You have condemned—you have murdered—the righteous man; he does not resist you.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:4 Gk Sabaoth; this word is a transliteration of the Hb word for Hosts, or Armies.
  2. James 5:5 Or hearts in

Woes on the Rich Who Oppress Others

Come now, you rich people, weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming upon you! Your wealth has rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have become corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and it will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived self-indulgently on the earth[a] and have lived luxuriously. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous person; he does not resist you.

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:5 Or “land”