James 5
1 Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you.
Come, you rich men, weep aloud and howl for your sorrows which will soon be upon you.
2 Your wealth is unclean and insects have made holes in your clothing.
Your treasures have rotted, and your piles of clothing are moth-eaten;
3 Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the 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 See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.
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 You have been living delicately on earth and have taken your pleasure; you have made your hearts fat for a day of destruction.
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 You have given your decision against the upright man and have put him to death. He puts up no fight against you.
You have condemned--you have murdered-- the righteous man: he offers no resistance.
7 Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.
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 as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because 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 Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.
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 as an example of pain nobly undergone and of strength in trouble, the prophets who gave to men the words of the Lord.
In illustration, brethren, of persecution patiently endured take the Prophets who have spoken as messengers from the Lord.
11 We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.
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 most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.
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 anyone among you in trouble? let him say prayers. Is anyone glad? let him make a song of praise.
Is one of you suffering? Let him pray. Is any one in good spirits? Let him sing a psalm.
14 Is anyone among you ill? let him send for the rulers of the church; and let them say prayers over him, putting oil on him 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 by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness.
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 So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.
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 Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth 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 made another prayer, and the heaven sent down rain and the earth gave her fruit.
Again he prayed, and the sky gave rain and the land yielded its crops.
19 My brothers, if one of you has gone out of the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error,
My brethren, if one of you strays from the truth and some one brings him back,
20 Be certain that he through whom a sinner has been turned from the error of his way, keeps a soul from death and is the cause of forgiveness for sins without number.
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.
