James 5:13-18

Expanded Bible

The Power of Prayer

¹³ Anyone who is ·having troubles [suffering] should pray. Anyone who is ·happy [joyful] should ·sing praises [sing psalms]. ¹⁴ Anyone who is sick should call the church’s elders. They should pray for and ·pour oil on the person [^Lanoint that person with olive oil; ^Canointing probably indicates dedicating or setting aside the person to God’s care; Mark 6:13] in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer that is said with faith will ·make the sick person well [save the sick; ^Cthe same Greek word is commonly used for both physical healing and spiritual salvation]; the Lord will ·heal [^Lraise up] that person [1 Cor. 12:9, 28]. And if the person has sinned, the sins will be forgiven. ¹⁶ [^LTherefore,] Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. ·When a believing person prays, great things happen [^LThe prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective]. ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed [earnestly; ^Lwith prayer] that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then Elijah prayed again, and ·the rain came down from the sky [or heaven gave rain], and the land produced crops again [1 Kin. 17—18].