James 5 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
2 Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.
2 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days.
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 Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
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 on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
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 murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
6 You have condemned and you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
7 Be patient therefore, 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, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9 Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!
9 Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.
10 Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
10 Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
11 Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Simply let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall under judgment.
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 one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
13 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.
14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
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 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
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 just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
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 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.
18 He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
19 Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,
20 consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
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.
Cross references (20)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Proverbs 11:28; 1 Timothy 6:9–10; Proverbs 11:4; James 1:11; Luke 6:24–25
- 2 Matthew 6:19–20; Job 13:28; Luke 12:33; Isaiah 50:9; Isaiah 51:8
- 3 Romans 2:5; James 5:7–8; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 20:15; Isaiah 2:2
- 4 Leviticus 19:13; Jeremiah 22:13; Deuteronomy 24:14–15; Romans 9:29; Malachi 3:5
- 5 1 Timothy 5:6; Luke 16:25; Luke 16:19; Revelation 19:17–18; Amos 6:1
- 6 1 Peter 2:22–23; John 19:9–11; Matthew 5:39; Acts 8:32; Isaiah 53:7
- 7 Hebrews 12:1–3; James 5:8–9; Joel 2:23; Galatians 6:9; Deuteronomy 11:14
- 8 James 5:9; Galatians 5:22; Psalm 37:7; 1 Peter 4:7; Psalm 27:14
- 9 Leviticus 19:18; 1 Corinthians 4:5; James 4:11; Galatians 5:14; Matthew 7:1–2
- 10 Hebrews 11:32–38; Matthew 5:11–12; Hebrews 13:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:14–15; Acts 7:52
- 11 James 1:12; Exodus 34:6; Job 1:21–22; Isaiah 55:6–7; Matthew 5:10–11
- 12 Matthew 5:33–37; Matthew 23:16–22; 2 Corinthians 1:17–20
- 13 Psalm 50:15; Jonah 2:2; Ephesians 5:19; Acts 16:24–25; Revelation 19:1–6
- 14 Mark 6:13; Acts 28:8; Mark 16:18; 2 Kings 5:11; Acts 9:40
- 15 1 John 5:14–16; James 5:13; James 5:16; James 1:6; Matthew 21:21–22
- 16 Jeremiah 29:12–13; Proverbs 15:29; Matthew 21:22; Psalm 34:15; John 9:31
- 17 1 Kings 17:1; Luke 4:25; 1 Kings 18:1; Revelation 11:6; Acts 14:15
- 18 1 Kings 18:42–45; Jeremiah 14:22; 1 Kings 18:18; Acts 14:17
- 19 Galatians 6:1; Matthew 18:15; James 5:20; Jude 22–23; Luke 22:32
- 20 1 Peter 4:8; Proverbs 10:12; 1 Timothy 4:16; Proverbs 11:30; Romans 11:14
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Let us listen to the Apostle James, who states this precept with the greatest clearness when he says, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another." For of this also the Lord gave us the example.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
Also, the converting our brethren from their wandering. For, it is said, "Go thou, and convert thy brethren, that thy sins may be forgiven thee." And from one's being in close relations with the priests, "and if," it is said, "a man hath committed sins it shall be forgiven him." ( Jas.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 14 (1889)