5
1 Come
now, you rich,
weep and howl
for your miseries
that are coming
on you.
2 Your
riches are
corrupted and your
garments are
moth-eaten.
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 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
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
you have murdered
the righteous one.
He doesn’t resist
you.
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
also be patient.
Establish your
hearts, for the
coming of the
Lord is at
hand.
9 Don’t
grumble, brothers, against
one another, so
that you won’t
be judged. Behold,
the judge stands
at the door.
10 Take,
brothers, for an
example of
suffering and of
perseverance, the
prophets who spoke
in the name
of the Lord.
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 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 among you
suffering? Let him
pray. Is any
cheerful? Let him
sing praises.
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 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 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
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 He
prayed again, and
the sky gave
rain, and the
earth produced its
fruit.
19 Brothers,
if any among
you wanders from
the truth and
someone turns him
back,
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.