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, you rich men, weep aloud and howl for your sorrows which will soon be 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 treasures have rotted, and your piles of clothing 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 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 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.
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 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].
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 [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]).
You have condemned--you have murdered-- the righteous man: he offers no resistance.
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. 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 [Similarly], you also should [wait] patiently and trust the Lord [Jesus] firmly, because he is coming [back] soon [and will judge all people fairly].
So you also must be patient: keeping up your courage; for the Coming of the Lord is now close 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.
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 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.
In illustration, brethren, of persecution patiently endured take the Prophets who have spoken as messengers from 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.
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 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, 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 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 one of you suffering? Let him pray. Is any one in good spirits? Let him sing a psalm.
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 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 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 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 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.
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 [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.
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 Then he prayed again, [asking God to send rain], and [as a result God] [MTY] sent rain, and plants [grew and] produced crops [again].
Again he prayed, and the sky gave rain and the land yielded its crops.
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],
My brethren, if one of you strays from the truth and some one brings him back,
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 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.
