James 5

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. 2Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your 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. 4Behold, the wages of the labourers 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 LORD1 All-Powerful2. 5You have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned, you have murdered the innocent person who does not oppose you.

7Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord3. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. 8You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9Do not grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you will not be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door. 10Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spoke in the Name of the Lord. 11Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the patience of Ayub4, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 

12But above all things, my brothers, do not swear, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes,” and your “no,” “no;” so that you do not fall into hypocrisy.

13Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. 14Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the congregation, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord, 15and 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. 16Confess your offenses to one another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effective, earnest prayer of a righteous man is powerfully effective. 17Ilyas5 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. 18He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.

19Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20let 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.

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  1. 5:4 LORD, God’s personal Name, YAHWEH, is in view behind the Greek kurios (lord) used in the text. The writer James was raised as a God-fearing Jew who out of respect would not dare to use God’s actual Name out of respect. YAHWEH is the Name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
  2. 5:4 LORD All-Powerful, in Greek Kuriou Sabaoth, echoing the Hebrew YAHWEH Sabaoth (or YAHWEH All-Powerful in this translation). This couplet is often found in the Hebrew Taurat and speaks of the God (YAHWEH by name) who is head over all the armies of heaven. ↩︎
  3. 5:7 Lord, translated from the Greek kurios. Depending on context, it can refer to: 1. God, 2. ’ISA AL-MASIH, 3. men in authority, such as kings, landlords, etc., 4. a respectful salutation meaning, “sir.” In this verse, the mention of “the coming of the Lord” means that it clearly refers to ‘ISA AL-MASIH in his return to this earth at the end of this age. ↩︎
  4. 5:11 Ayub, or Job. For the story of Ayub see the book in the Taurat that bears his name. ↩︎
  5. 5:17 Ilyas, this Arabic name is derived from the Hebrew name Elijah, which means “YAHWEH is My God”. (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎