James 5 

 

1 Hear now, you men who trust in riches, weep, and howl for your (grief and the) miseries (and destruction) that are sure to come upon you.

 

2 Your riches are corrupted (and decayed), and your garments are (already) motheaten (and on the verge of perishing).

 

3 Your gold and silver are tarnished; and their rust will be a witness against you and will eat the (very) flesh (you are trying to preserve) as if it were fire. You have gathered together (storing up) for yourself (corruptible) treasures that (decay and) will perish in the last day.

 

4 Behold, the wage of the workers you have used to harvest your fields, which wage you have kept back (for yourself), and the cries (of injustice) from those who have harvested, have entered into the ears of the Lord of Host.

 

5 You have lived in luxury on the earth and have been self-indulgent; you have fattened your heart and (the innermost parts of) your bellies (in order to satisfy your desire for life through the riches of the world), like (sheep destined) for the day of slaughter.

 

6 You have condemned and put to death the righteous (who only look to God and His grace to preserve their lives from destruction) and they did not resist you.

 

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord (Jesus). Behold, the husbandman (the Father of all) waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for the harvest thereof, until (the fullness of time when) he will receive (to Himself the fruit of) the early and latter rain (from the pouring out of His Spirit unto the resurrection of the dead in a glorified earth).

 

8 (Therefore), you also may be patient; having your hearts established (in the faith and strengthened by the sure hope of the gospel): for the coming (day) of the Lord (where He will join all things in heaven and earth to Himself as One) draws closer.

 

9 Do not murmur (within yourselves, judging) one against another, brethren, so that you will not (judge and) condemn yourselves (of the same thing): behold (instead) the (One) Judge (who holds the only true judgment, He is near and even) stands before the door.

 

10 Take (those things which were set forth as) an example my brethren, (considering) the suffering of affliction and patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

 

11 Behold, we consider them blessed which endured (affliction). You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is (filled with and) moved by compassion (at our suffering of affliction at the hands of death) and (desires) with (His) tender mercy (to relieve us from our suffering).

 

12 But above all things, my brethren, do not swear (an oath), by (invoking) heaven (upon your own lust for it is God’s throne), or by the earth (for it is His footstool), or by making any other oath (of your own): but (as you look to and are persuaded by Him) let your yes be a simple yes; and your no, be a simple no (for anything else comes not from the wisdom above); so that you do not (condemn yourselves and thereby) fall under (the weight of your own) judgment.

 

13 Is there any among you suffering hardships (and afflictions)? let him pray (to the Father who is able to strengthen him so that he may endure). Is there anyone cheerful? let him sing praises.

 

14 Is there any (feeling) weak (and without strength) among you? Let him call for those mature in the faith within the church; and let them pray (declaring the faith) over him, (which is able to) anoint him with (the) oil (only the Spirit can give) in the name of the Lord:

 

15 And the prayer that imparts faith (to the hearer) will save (and bring rest to) the one who is weary (exhausted and without strength) and the Lord will raise him up (strengthening him in the inner man) and if he has (been overtaken by) any offenses (that come from self-preservation), they will be (pacified and) sent away from him.

 

 

16 Therefore (seeing as we all can be tempted to preserve our lives from the corruption and death in the world), (let us) confess our faults to one another and pray (declaring the faith) over one another so that you may be healed (and find the rest your heart truly desires). The prayer of a righteous man is (one that sees that only the Father can serve with the righteousness our hearts have ever longed for and that it is His good pleasure to do so), (this is) the effective prayer because it is (full of power) able to prevail over the death and corruption in the world and strengthen one unto that life.

 

17 Elias was a (righteous) man with a passionate desire for life just as we are (who because of like infirmities was subject to all the same temptations death can bring), and he (earnestly) prayed a prayer (to the only living God whom he revered) that it might not rain: and it did not rain on the earth for a space of three years and six months.

 

18 And he prayed again, and the (Lord from) heaven gave the rain and the earth brought forth her fruit (upon the formerly dry ground).

 

 

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone (comes alongside them with the faith of our Lord Jesus and it) turns their hearts back (to the truth);

 

 

20 Let it be known, that (the Spirit of the Lord is) the One (who rains from heaven) that turns (the heart of) the transgressor from the error of his way (unto life), saving a soul from (perishing in the second) death and (fully persuading them that their death has been sent away) will cover a multitude of offenses (formerly brought by the body of death).