James 5
1 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]!
COME now, ye rich men, let your tears run down, howling over your miseries which are coming upon you.
2 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.
Your wealth is corrupted, and your robes are moth-eaten.
3 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].
Your gold and silver is cankered with rust; and the rust upon them is a testimony against you, and shall eat into your flesh as fire. Ye have heaped up treasures in the last days.
4 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.
Behold, the wages of the workmen who have mowed down your fields, which is kept back by you from them, crieth out: and the loud moans of the reapers are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 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].
Ye have gormandized upon the earth, and lived in every luxury: ye have pampered your hearts, as in a day of feasting on the victim slain.
6 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]).
Ye have falsely condemned, ye have murdered the just man; nor doth he resist you.
7 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].
Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, in patient expectation for it, till it receives the former and the latter rain.
8 [Similarly], you also should [wait] patiently and trust the Lord [Jesus] firmly, because he is coming [back] soon [and will judge all people fairly].
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9 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.
Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest be ye condemned: lo! the judge standeth at the gates.
10 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.
My brethren, take a pattern for suffering affliction, and patience from the prophets, who have spoken to you in the name of the Lord.
11 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.
Behold, we esteem those blessed who patiently endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; for the Lord is full of bowels of mercy, and tenderly compassionate.
12 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.
But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your no, no; that ye fall not under condemnation.
13 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].
Is any man among you under afflictions? let him pray. Is any man happy in mind? let him sing psalms.
14 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.
Is any man sick among you? let him send for the presbyters of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 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}.
and the prayer of faith shall recover the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he hath committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 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.
Confess your offences one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The energetic prayer of a righteous man is mightily prevalent.
17 [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.
Elias was a man of like feelings with us, and he prayed fervently that it should not rain; and there fell no rain on the earth during three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, [asking God to send rain], and [as a result God] [MTY] sent rain, and plants [grew and] produced crops [again].
And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth shot up its fruit.
19 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],
Brethren, if any man among you should have erred from the truth, and one convert him;
20 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.
let him know, that he that converteth a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.
