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Miseries of the Rich

(A)Come now, (B)you rich, (C)cry, howling over your miseries which are coming upon you. (D)Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up such treasure (E)in the last days! Behold, (F)the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields—that which has been withheld by you—cries out against you; and (G)the outcries of those who did the harvesting have reached the ears of (H)the [a]Lord of [b]Sabaoth. You have (I)lived luxuriously on the earth and lived in self-indulgence. You have [c]fattened your hearts in a (J)day of slaughter. You have condemned and (K)murdered (L)the righteous man; [d]he does not resist you.

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:4 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Is 5:9
  2. James 5:4 Hosts
  3. James 5:5 Lit nourished
  4. James 5:6 Or does He not resist you?, cf. 4:6

Warning to the Rich

Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people,[a] who do not resist you.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 5:6a Or killed the Righteous One.
  2. 5:6b Or Don’t they resist you? or Doesn’t God oppose you? or Aren’t they now accusing you before God?