James 5
1 Come, now, you rich men, weep, howl, on account of your miseries, which are coming upon you.
Now [I have something to say to] the rich people [who do not believe in Christ and who] ([oppress you/cause you to suffer]). Listen [to me], you rich people! You should weep and wail [loudly] [DOU] because you will experience terrible troubles [PRS]!
2 Your riches are putrefied, and your garments are motheaten.
Your wealth [of various kinds] is [worthless] [MET], [as though it were] rotted. Your fine clothes are [worthless] [MET], [as though] termites had ruined them.
3 Your gold and silver are eaten with rust, and the rust of them will be a witness against you, and will eat your flesh as fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
Your gold and silver are [worthless] [MET], [as though they were] corroded. [When God judges you], this worthless wealth [MTY] of yours will be evidence [PRS] that you are guilty [of being greedy], and as rust and fire [destroy] [MET, SYN] things, [God] will severely punish you [SIM]. You have ([in vain/uselessly]) (stored up/accumulated) [wealth] at a time when [God] is about to [judge you] [MTY].
4 Hark! the hire of the laborers who have reaped your field, which is fraudulently kept back by you, cries; and the cries of the reapers have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
Think [about what you have done]. You have not paid wages to the workmen who have harvested your fields for you, [with the result that] [PRS] those reapers are crying out [to God for him to help them]. [And God], the all-powerful Lord, has heard their loud cries.
5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts as in a day of festivity.
You have lived luxuriously, just to have pleasure [here] on earth. [Just like cattle fatten themselves, not realizing that] they will be slaughtered [MET], you have [lived just for pleasure] [MTY], [not realizing that God will severely punish you].
6 You have condemned--you have killed the Just One--he did not resist you.
You have [arranged for others/judges to] condemn innocent people. You have [arranged for others to kill] some people. [And even though] those people had not done anything wrong, they were not [able to] defend themselves against you. [My fellow believers, that is what I say to the rich people] ([who oppress you/cause you to suffer]).
7 Behold the husbandman, who expects the valuable fruit of the earth, waits patiently for it, till it receive the early and later rain.
So, my fellow believers, [although rich people cause you to suffer], be patient until the Lord [Jesus Christ] comes [back]. Remember that when farmers [plant a field], they wait for their valuable crops to grow. They must wait patiently for the rain [that comes] at the planting season and for more rain [that comes] just before the harvest season. They wait [for] the crops [to grow and mature before they can harvest them].
8 Be you also patient--strengthen your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh.
[Similarly], you also should [wait] patiently and trust the Lord [Jesus] firmly, because he is coming [back] soon [and will judge all people fairly].
9 Repine not against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned: behold, the Judge stands before the door.
My fellow believers, do not complain about each other, in order that you will not be condemned [and punished by the Lord Jesus] {in order that [the Lord Jesus] will not condemn you}. It is he who will judge us, and he is ready to appear.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord: for an example of suffering evil, and of patience.
My fellow believers, as an example [of how to be patient], (consider/think about) the prophets whom the Lord [God sent long ago] to speak his messages [MTY]. [Although people caused] the prophets to suffer a lot, they endured it patiently.
11 Behold, we call them happy, who are patient. You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
And we know that [God] (approves of/is pleased with) those who endure [suffering for him]. You have also heard about Job. You know that [although he suffered much], the Lord [God] finally caused things to turn out well [for Job because] he endured [that suffering] (OR, because he continued [to trust God]). [And from that we know] that the Lord is very compassionate and kind.
12 But, above all things, my brethren, swear not; neither by the heaven, or by the earth, nor by any other oath: but let your yes, be Yes, and your no, No; that you may not fall under condemnation.
Also, my fellow believers, [I want to say] something important [about how you talk]. [If you say that you will do something], do not say, “If I do not do it, may [God in] heaven [MTY] punish me.” Do not even say, “If I do not do it, may [someone here on] earth [MTY] punish me.” Do not say anything like that. Instead, if you say “Yes,” then [do what you said that you would do]. If you say “No,” then do not [do it]. Otherwise, [God] will condemn you.
13 Does any one among you suffer evil? let him pray: is any one cheerful? let him sing psalms.
Whoever among you is experiencing trouble [RHQ] should pray [that God would help him. Whoever] is cheerful/happy [RHQ] should sing songs of praise [to God].
14 Is any one sick, among you? let him send for the seniors of the congregation, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil, in the name of the Lord.
Whoever among you is sick [RHQ] should call the leaders of the congregation [to come to pray for him]. They should put [olive] oil on him and, with the Lord’s authority [MTY] (OR, calling on the Lord [to heal him]), pray.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and so the Lord will raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
And if they truly trust [in the Lord] when they pray [PRS], the sick person will be healed. The Lord will heal him. And if that person has sinned ([in a way that caused him to be/and because of that he became]) [sick, if he] ([confesses what he did/says that he did what is wrong]), he will be forgiven {[the Lord] will forgive him}.
16 Confess your faults, one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The inwrought prayer of the righteous man avails much.
So, [because the Lord is able to heal the sick and to forgive sins], tell each other the sinful things that you have done, and pray for each other in order that you may be healed {that [God] may heal you} [physically and spiritually]. If righteous people [pray and] ask fervently [for God to do something, God] will certainly do it in a powerful way.
17 Elias was a man frail and mortal like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
[Although the prophet] Elijah was (an ordinary person/just a human being) like us, he earnestly prayed that it would not rain. [As a result], it did not rain for three and a half years.
18 And again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain, and the land brought forth its fruit.
Then he prayed again, [asking God to send rain], and [as a result God] [MTY] sent rain, and plants [grew and] produced crops [again].
19 Brethren, if any one among you be seduced from the truth, and any one turn him back;
My fellow believers, if anyone of you stops obeying the true message [from God], someone from among you should persuade that person to once again do [what God has told us to do]. [If he stops doing what is wrong],
20 let him know what he who converts a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.
the one [who persuaded him] should realize that [because] he has enabled the person who was sinning to stop doing what is wrong, [God] will save that person from ([spiritual] death/being separated from him forever), and will forgive [his] many sins.
