James 5
1 Weep now, ye rich men, and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
Come, you rich men, weep aloud and howl for your sorrows which will soon be upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten:
Your treasures have rotted, and your piles of clothing are moth-eaten;
3 your gold and silver is cankered, and their rust shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire: ye have been treasuring them up for 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 Behold the hire of the laborers, that reaped your fields, of which they are defrauded by you, crieth out against you: and the complaints of the reapers are come into 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 Ye have lived upon earth delicately and luxuriously; ye fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
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 Ye have condemned, ye have murdered the just one, who resisted you not.
You have condemned--you have murdered-- the righteous man: he offers no resistance.
7 Wait patiently therefore, my brethren, till the coming of the Lord: behold the husbandman expecteth the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it, till he receive the former and the latter rain.
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 Be ye also patient, establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is near.
So you also must be patient: keeping up your courage; for the Coming of the Lord is now close at hand.
9 Repine not, my brethren, against each other, that ye be not condemned: behold, the judge is 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 Take for an example of enduring evil and of long-suffering the prophets, who spake 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 Behold, we account those happy, that are patient. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
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 But above all, my brethren, swear not; neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay nay; that ye may not fall under 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 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray: is any chearful? let him sing psalms.
Is one of you suffering? Let him pray. Is any one in good spirits? Let him sing a psalm.
14 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:
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 the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven 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 Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed: the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
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 Elias was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not upon the land for three years and six months:
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 he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth put forth its fruit.
Again he prayed, and the sky gave rain and the land yielded its crops.
19 Brethren, if any among you be seduced from the truth, and one convert him;
My brethren, if one of you strays from the truth and some one brings him back,
20 let him know that he, who turneth back a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall 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.
