James 5
1 Come, you rich men, weep aloud and howl for your sorrows which will soon be upon you.
Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.
2 Your treasures have rotted, and your piles of clothing are moth-eaten;
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 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.
Your gold and silver is corroded; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 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.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 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.
You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned--you have murdered-- the righteous man: he offers no resistance.
You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you.
7 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.
Be patient therefore, brothers, to the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 So you also must be patient: keeping up your courage; for the Coming of the Lord is now close at hand.
Be you also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws near.
9 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.
Grudge not one against another, brothers, lest you be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.
10 In illustration, brethren, of persecution patiently endured take the Prophets who have spoken as messengers from the Lord.
Take, my brothers, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 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.
Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
12 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.
But above all things, my brothers, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yes be yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation.
13 Is one of you suffering? Let him pray. Is any one in good spirits? Let him sing a psalm.
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 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.
Is any 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 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.
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 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.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 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.
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 Again he prayed, and the sky gave rain and the land yielded its crops.
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19 My brethren, if one of you strays from the truth and some one brings him back,
Brothers, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 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.
Let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
