James 5
5
Advice to Rich People
1Pay attention to this if you’re rich. Cry and moan about the misery that is coming to you. 2Your riches have decayed, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. 3Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be used as evidence against you. Like fire, it will destroy your body.
You have stored up riches in these last days. 4The wages you refused to pay the people who harvested your fields shout ⌞to God⌟ against you. The Lord of Armies has heard the cries of those who gather the crops. 5You have lived in luxury and pleasure here on earth. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered people who have God’s approval, even though they didn’t resist you.
Be Patient
7Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. See how farmers wait for their precious crops to grow. They wait patiently for fall and spring rains. 8You, too, must be patient. Don’t give up hope. The Lord will soon be here. 9Brothers and sisters, stop complaining about each other, or you will be condemned. Realize that the judge is standing at the door.
10Brothers and sisters, follow the example of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. They were patient when they suffered unjustly. 11We consider those who endure to be blessed. You have heard about Job’s endurance. You saw that the Lord ended Job’s suffering because the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Don’t Take Oaths
12Above all things, my brothers and sisters, do not take an oath on anything in heaven or on earth. Do not take any oath. If you mean yes, say yes. If you mean no, say no. Do this so that you won’t be condemned.
Prayer Is Powerful
13If any of you are having trouble, pray. If you are happy, sing psalms. 14If you are sick, call for the church leaders. Have them pray for you and anoint you with olive oil #5:14 People in ancient times used olive oil for healing. in the name of the Lord. 15(Prayers offered in faith will save those who are sick, and the Lord will cure them.) If you have sinned, you will be forgiven. 16So admit your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you will be healed.
Prayers offered by those who have God’s approval are effective. 17Elijah was human like us. Yet, when he prayed that it wouldn’t rain, no rain fell on the ground for three-and-a-half years. 18Then he prayed again. It rained, and the ground produced crops.
Help Those Who Have Wandered Away from the Truth
19My brothers and sisters, if one of you wanders from the truth, someone can bring that person back. 20Realize that whoever brings a sinner back from the error of his ways will save him from death, and many sins will be forgiven.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
James 5
5
Warning to the Rich.#Continuing with the theme of the transitory character of life on earth, the author points out the impending ruin of the godless. He denounces the unjust rich, whose victims cry to heaven for judgment on their exploiters (Jas 5:4–6). The decay and corrosion of the costly garments and metals, which symbolize wealth, prove them worthless and portend the destruction of their possessors (Jas 5:2–3). 1Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.#Lk 6:24. 2Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,#Mt 6:19. 3your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days.#Ps 21:10; Prv 11:4; Jdt 16:17. 4Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.#Lv 19:13; Dt 24:14–15; Mal 3:5. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.#Jer 12:3; Lk 16:19–25. 6You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one;#Wis 2:10–20. he offers you no resistance.#The author does not have in mind any specific crime in his readers’ communities but rather echoes the Old Testament theme of the harsh oppression of the righteous poor (see Prv 1:11; Wis 2:10, 12, 20).
Patience and Oaths. 7#Those oppressed by the unjust rich are reminded of the need for patience, both in bearing the sufferings of human life (Jas 5:9) and in their expectation of the coming of the Lord. It is then that they will receive their reward (Jas 5:7–8, 10–11; cf. Heb 10:25; 1 Jn 2:18). Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.#The early and the late rains: an expression related to the agricultural season in ancient Palestine (see Dt 11:14; Jer 5:24; Jl 2:23). 8You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.#Lk 21:19; Heb 10:36 / Heb 10:25; 1 Pt 4:7. 9Do not complain, brothers, about one another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates. 10Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, because “the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”#Ex 34:6; Ps 103:8.
12#Mt 5:34–37. But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No,” that you may not incur condemnation.#This is the threat of condemnation for the abuse of swearing oaths (cf. Mt 5:33–37). By heaven or by earth: these words were substitutes for the original form of an oath, to circumvent its binding force and to avoid pronouncing the holy name of God (see Ex 22:10).
IV. THE POWER OF PRAYER
Anointing of the Sick. 13Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick?#In case of sickness a Christian should ask for the presbyters of the church, i.e., those who have authority in the church (cf. Acts 15:2, 22–23; 1 Tm 5:17; Ti 1:5). They are to pray over the person and anoint with oil; oil was used for medicinal purposes in the ancient world (see Is 1:6; Lk 10:34). In Mk 6:13, the Twelve anoint the sick with oil on their missionary journey. In the name of the Lord: by the power of Jesus Christ. He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord,#Mk 6:13. 15and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.#The results of the prayer and anointing are physical health and forgiveness of sins. The Roman Catholic Church (Council of Trent, Session 14) declared that this anointing of the sick is a sacrament “instituted by Christ and promulgated by blessed James the apostle.”
Confession and Intercession. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. 17Elijah was a human being like us; yet he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain upon the land.#1 Kgs 17:1; Lk 4:25. 18Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.#1 Kgs 18:45.
Conversion of Sinners. 19#Mt 18:15; Gal 6:1. My brothers, if anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back, 20#Prv 10:12; 1 Pt 4:8. he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.#When a Christian is instrumental in the conversion of a sinner, the result is forgiveness of sins and a reinstatement of the sinner to the life of grace.
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