James 5
1 Listen to me, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming upon you!
Come, you rich men, weep aloud and howl for your sorrows which will soon be upon you.
2 Your riches have wasted away, and your clothes have become moth-eaten.
Your treasures have rotted, and your piles of clothing are moth-eaten;
3 Your gold and silver are rusted; and the rust on them will be evidence against you, and will eat into your flesh. It was fire, so to speak, that you stored up for yourselves in these last days.
your gold and your silver have become covered with rust, and the rust on them will give evidence against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded up wealth in these last days.
4 Listen! The wages you have held back from the laborers who mowed your fields are crying out against you, and the outcries of your harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts!
I tell you that the pay of the labourers who have gathered in your crops--pay which you are keeping back--is calling out against you; and the outcries of those who have been your reapers have entered into the ears of the Lord of the armies of Heaven.
5 You have lived on earth a life of extravagance and luxury; you have indulged your fancies in a time of bloodshed.
Here on earth you have lived self-indulgent and profligate lives. You have stupefied yourselves with gross feeding; but a day of slaughter has come.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered, the righteous one! Must not God be opposed to you?
You have condemned--you have murdered-- the righteous man: he offers no resistance.
7 Be patient, then, friends, until the coming of the Lord. Even the farmer has to wait for the precious fruit of the earth, watching over it patiently, until it has had the spring and summer rains.
Be patient therefore, brethren, until the Coming of the Lord. Notice how eagerly a farmer waits for a valuable crop! He is patient over it till it has received the early and the later rain.
8 And you must be patient also, and not be discouraged; for the Lord’s coming is near.
So you also must be patient: keeping up your courage; for the Coming of the Lord is now close at hand.
9 Do not make complaints against one another, friends, or judgment will be passed on you. The judge is already standing at the door!
Do not cry out in condemnation of one another, brethren, lest you come under judgement. I tell you that the Judge is standing at the door.
10 Friends, as an example of the patient endurance of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
In illustration, brethren, of persecution patiently endured take the Prophets who have spoken as messengers from the Lord.
11 We count those who displayed such endurance blessed! You have heard, too, of Job’s endurance, and have seen what the Lord’s purpose was, for ‘the Lord is full of pity and compassion.’
Remember that we call those blessed who endured what they did. You have also heard of Job's patient endurance, and have seen the issue of the Lord's dealings with him--how full of tenderness and pity the Lord is.
12 Above all things, my friends, never take an oath, either by heaven, or by earth, or by anything else. Let your ‘Yes’ suffice for yes, and ‘No’ for no, so that you may escape condemnation.
But above all things, my brethren, do not swear, either by Heaven or by the earth, or with any other oath. Let your 'yes' be simply 'yes,' and your 'no' be simply 'no;' that you may not come under condemnation.
13 If anyone of you is in trouble, they should pray; if anyone is happy, they should sing hymns.
Is one of you suffering? Let him pray. Is any one in good spirits? Let him sing a psalm.
14 If anyone of you is ill, they should send for the church elders, and let them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Is any one ill? Let him send for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 The prayer offered in faith will save the person who is sick, and the Lord will raise them from their bed; and if they have committed sins, they will be forgiven.
And the prayer of faith will restore the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up to health; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be cured. Great is the power of a good person’s fervent prayer.
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be cured. The heartfelt supplication of a righteous man exerts a mighty influence.
17 Elijah was only human like ourselves, but, when he prayed fervently that it might not rain, no rain fell on the land for three and a half years.
Elijah was a man with a nature similar to ours, and he earnestly prayed that there might be no rain: and no rain fell on the land for three years and six months.
18 And, when he prayed again, the clouds brought rain, and the land bore crops.
Again he prayed, and the sky gave rain and the land yielded its crops.
19 My friends, should one of you be led astray from the truth, and someone bring them back again,
My brethren, if one of you strays from the truth and some one brings him back,
20 be sure that the person who brings a sinner back from their mistaken ways will save that person’s soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.
let him know that he who brings a sinner back from his evil ways will save the man's soul from death and throw a veil over a multitude of sins.
