Iacobi 5
1 Agite nunc divites, plorate ululantes in miseriis vestris, quæ advenient vobis.
Listen to me, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming upon you!
2 Divitiæ vestræ putrefactæ sunt: et vestimenta vestra a tineis comesta sunt.
Your riches have wasted away, and your clothes have become moth-eaten.
3 Aurum, et argentum vestrum æruginavit: et ærugo eorum in testimonium vobis erit, et manducabit carnes vestras sicut ignis. Thesaurizastis vobis iram in novissimis diebus.
Your gold and silver are rusted; and the rust on them will be evidence against you, and will eat into your flesh. It was fire, so to speak, that you stored up for yourselves in these last days.
4 Ecce merces operariorum, qui messuerunt regiones vestras, quæ fraudata est a vobis, clamat: et clamor eorum in aures Domini sabbaoth introivit.
Listen! The wages you have held back from the labourers who mowed your fields are crying out against you, and the outcries of your harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts!
5 Epulati estis super terram, et in luxuriis enutristis corda vestra in die occisionis.
You have lived on earth a life of extravagance and luxury; you have indulged your fancies in a time of bloodshed.
6 Addixistis, et occidistis iustum, et non resistit vobis.
You have condemned, you have murdered, the righteous one! Must not God be opposed to you?
7 Patientes igitur estote fratres usque ad adventum Domini. Ecce agricola expectat pretiosum fructum terræ, patienter ferens donec accipiat temporaneum, et serotinum.
Be patient, then, friends, until the coming of the Lord. Even the farmer has to wait for the precious fruit of the earth, watching over it patiently, until it has had the spring and summer rains.
8 Patientes igitur estote et vos, et confirmate corda vestra: quoniam adventus Domini appropinquavit.
And you must be patient also, and not be discouraged; for the Lord’s coming is near.
9 Nolite ingemiscere fratres in alterutrum, ut non iudicemini. Ecce iudex ante ianuam assistit.
Do not make complaints against one another, friends, or judgment will be passed on you. The judge is already standing at the door!
10 Exemplum accipite, fratres, exitus mali, laboris, et patientiæ, Prophetas: qui locuti sunt in nomine Domini.
Friends, as an example of the patient endurance of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 Ecce beatificamus eos, qui sustinuerunt. Sufferentiam Iob audistis, et finem Domini vidistis, quoniam misericors Dominus est, et miserator.
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.”
12 Ante omnia autem fratres mei nolite iurare, neque per cælum, neque per terram, neque aliud quodcumque iuramentum. Sit autem sermo vester: Est, est: Non, non: ut non sub iudicio decidatis.
Above all things, my friends, never take an oath, either by heaven, or by earth, or by anything else. Let your “Yes” suffice for yes, and “No” for no, so that you may escape condemnation.
13 Tristatur aliquis vestrum? oret. Æquo animo est? psallat.
If anyone of you is in trouble, they should pray; if anyone is happy, they should sing hymns.
14 Infirmatur quis in vobis? inducat presbyteros Ecclesiæ, et orent super eum, ungentes eum oleo in nomine Domini:
If anyone of you is ill, they should send for the church elders, and let them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 et oratio fidei salvabit infirmum, et alleviabit eum Dominus: et si in peccatis sit, remittentur ei.
The prayer offered in faith will save the person who is sick, and the Lord will raise them from their bed; and if they have committed sins, they will be forgiven.
16 Confitemini ergo alterutrum peccata vestra, et orate pro invicem ut salvemini: multum enim valet deprecatio iusti assidua.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be cured. Great is the power of a good person’s fervent prayer.
17 Elias homo erat similis nobis passibilis: et oratione oravit ut non pluret super terram, et non pluit annos tres, et menses sex.
Elijah was only human like ourselves, but, when he prayed fervently that it might not rain, no rain fell on the land for three and a half years.
18 Et rursum oravit: et cælum dedit pluviam, et terra dedit fructum suum.
And, when he prayed again, the clouds brought rain, and the land bore crops.
19 Fratres mei, si quis ex vobis erraverit a veritate, et converterit quis eum:
My friends, should one of you be led astray from the truth, and someone bring them back again,
20 scire debet quoniam qui converti fecerit peccatorem ab errore viæ suæ, salvabit animam eius a morte, et operiet multitudinem peccatorum.
be sure that the person who brings a sinner back from their mistaken ways will save that person’s soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.
