The In-Dept Study of the Bible
James 05
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howlfor
your miseries that are coming on you.
2 Your riches are corrupted and your
garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and your silver are corroded,
and their corrosion will be for a testimony
against you and will eat your flesh like fire.
You have laid up your treasure in the last
days.
4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who
mowed your fields, which you have kept
back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of
those who reaped have entered into the
ears of the Lord of Armies.†
5 You have lived in luxury on the earth,
and taken your pleasure. You have nourished
your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and you have
murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t
resist you.
7 Be patienttherefore, brothers, until the
coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer
waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient over it, until it receives the
early and late rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your
hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at
hand.
9 Don’t grumble, brothers, against one
another, so that you won’t be judged.
Behold, the judge stands at the door.
10 Take, brothers, for an example of
suffering and of perseverance, the prophets
who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 Behold, we call them blessed who endured.
You have heard of the perseverance of
Job and have seen the Lord in the out
come, and how the Lord is full of
compassion and mercy.
12 But above all things, my brothers,
don’t swear—not by heaven, or by the
earth, or by any other oath; but let your
“yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”, so that
you don’t fall into hypocrisy.‡
13 Is any among you suffering? Let him
pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.
14 Is any among you sick? Let him call
for the elders ofthe assembly, and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in
the name of the Lord;
15 and the prayer of faith will heal him
who is sick, and the Lord will raise him
up. If he has committed sins, he will be
forgiven.
16 Confess your sins to one another and
pray for one another, that you may be
healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous
person is powerfully effective.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like
ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for
three years and six months.
18 He prayed again, and the sky gave
rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brothers, if any among you wanders
from the truth and someone turns him
back,
20 let him know that he who turns a
sinner from the error of his way will save a
soul from death and will cover a multitude
of sins.