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Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

1Come now, you #Prov. 11:28; (Luke 6:24; 1 Tim. 6:9)rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2Your #Jer. 17:11; Matt. 6:19riches are corrupted, and #Job 13:28your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. #Rom. 2:5You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4Indeed #Lev. 19:13; Job 24:10; Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and #Ex. 2:23; Deut. 24:15; Job 31:38the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

7Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10#Matt. 5:12My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and #Heb. 10:36patience. 11Indeed #(Ps. 94:12; Matt. 5:10); James 1:2we count them blessed who #(James 1:12)endure. You have heard of #Job 1:21, 22; 2:10the perseverance of Job and seen #Job 42:10the end intended by the Lord—that #Num. 14:18the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

12But above all, my brethren, #Matt. 5:34–37do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

Meeting Specific Needs

13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him #Ps. 50:14, 15pray. Is anyone cheerful? #Eph. 5:19Let him sing psalms. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, #Mark 6:13; 16:18anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. #Is. 33:24And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. #Num. 11:2The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17Elijah was a man #Acts 14:15with a nature like ours, and #1 Kin. 17:1; 18:1he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18And he prayed #1 Kin. 18:1, 42again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

19Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone #Matt. 18:15; Gal. 6:1turns him back, 20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way #Rom. 11:14; 1 Cor. 1:21; James 1:21will save a soul from death and #Prov. 10:12; (1 Pet. 4:8)cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:14-16

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