James 5 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

Danger of Riches; Patience and Prayer

Jas 5:1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!

Jas 5:2Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.

Jas 5:3Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

Jas 5:4

Jas 5:4Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.[fn]

Jas 5:5

Jas 5:5You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as[fn] in a day of slaughter.

Jas 5:6

Jas 5:6You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

Jas 5:7

Jas 5:7Therefore 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.

Jas 5:8

Jas 5:8You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Jas 5:9

Jas 5:9Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.[fn] Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

Jas 5:10

Jas 5:10My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

Jas 5:11

Jas 5:11Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Jas 5:12

Jas 5:12But above all, my brethren, do 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.[fn]

Meeting Specific Needs

(cf. 1 Kin. 18:41–46 )

Jas 5:13

Jas 5:13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

Jas 5:14

Jas 5:14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Jas 5:15

Jas 5:15And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Jas 5:16

Jas 5:16Confess your trespasses[fn] to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Jas 5:17

Jas 5:17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

Jas 5:18

Jas 5:18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

Jas 5:19

Jas 5:19Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,

Jas 5:20

Jas 5:20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul[fn] from death and cover a multitude of sins.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(5:4)

Literally, in Hebrew, Hosts

(5:5)

NU-Text omits as.

(5:9)

NU-Text and M-Text read judged.

(5:12)

M-Text reads hypocrisy.

(5:16)

NU-Text reads Therefore confess your sins.

(5:20)

NU-Text reads his soul.

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.