Warning to Rich Oppressors

Now listen,(A) you rich people,(B) weep and wail(C) because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.(D) Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.(E) Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers(F) who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries(G) of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.(H) You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves(I) in the day of slaughter.[a](J) You have condemned and murdered(K) the innocent one,(L) who was not opposing you.

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:5 Or yourselves as in a day of feasting

Warning to the Rich

Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud[a] over the miseries that are coming on you. Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 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] 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] You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.[d] You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.[e]

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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.”