James 5
1 Listen to me, you rich men, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming upon you!
Come now, ye rich, weep mourning over your calamities which are coming on you.
2 Your riches have wasted away, and your clothes have become moth-eaten.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments have become moth-eaten:
3 Your gold and silver are rusted; and the rust on them shall be evidence against you, and shall eat into your very flesh. It was fire, so to speak, that you stored up for yourselves in these last days.
your gold and your silver are cankered; and their rust shall be for a witness against you, and eat your flesh like fire. You laid up treasures in the last days.
4 I tell you, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you have been fraudulently keeping back, are crying out against you, and the outcries of your reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts!
Behold, the wages of the laborers having reaped your fields, which is fraudulently kept back by you, is crying out: and the voices of the reapers have come into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You have lived on earth a life of extravagance and luxury; you have indulged your fancies in a time of bloodshed.
Ye flourished upon the earth, and were wanton; you nourished your hearts in the day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered, the Righteous One! Must not God be opposed to you?
You condemned, you murdered the righteous; nothing antagonizes you.
7 Be patient, then, Brothers, till the Coming of the Lord. Even the farmer has to wait for the precious fruit of the earth, watching over it patiently, till it has had the spring and summer rains.
Therefore, O brethren, suffer long, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer receives the precious fruit of the earth, waiting for it, until he may receive the former and latter rain:
8 And you must be patient also, and not be discouraged; for the Lord’s Coming is near.
you also suffer long; establish your hearts; because the coming of the Lord is nigh.
9 Do not make complaints against one another, Brothers, or judgment will be passed upon you. The Judge is already standing at the door!
Do not complain against one another, brethren, in order that you may not be judged: behold, the judge stands before the doors.
10 Brothers, as an example of the patient endurance of suffering, take the Prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Brethren, receive the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering evil and longsuffering.
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.’
Behold, we pronounce them happy who have endured: you have heard the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, because the Lord is very merciful, and sympathetic.
12 Above all things, my Brothers, never take an oath, either by heaven, or by earth, or by anything else. With you let ‘Yes’ suffice for yes, and ‘No’ for no, so that you may escape condemnation.
But, my brethren, before all, swear not, neither by heaven, or by earth, or any other oath: but let your conversation be yes yes; and no no; lest you may fall under condemnation.
13 If any of you is in trouble, let him pray; if any one is happy, let him sing hymns.
Who is afflicted among you? let him pray. Who is merry? let him sing psalms.
14 If any one of you is ill, let him send for the Officers of the Church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
Is any one sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 The prayer offered in faith will save the man who is sick, and the Lord will raise him from his bed; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Truly the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; if he may have committed sins, they shall be forgiven unto him.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be cured. Great is the power of a good man’s fervent prayer.
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, in order that you may be healed: the inward working prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was only a man like ourselves, but, when he prayed fervently that it might not rain, no rain fell upon the land for three years and a half.
Elijah was a man of like suffering to us, and he prayed with prayer that it might not rain, and it rained not upon the earth during three years and six months;
18 And, when he prayed again, the clouds brought rain, and the land bore crops.
and again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19 My Brothers, should one of you be led astray from the Truth, and someone bring him back again,
My brethren, if any one among you may err from the truth, and one may turn him back;
20 be sure that he who brings a sinner back from his mistaken ways will save that man’s soul from Death, and throw a veil over countless sins.
let him know, that the one having turned a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins.
