James 5
1 Now listen, you wealthy people: cry out and mourn loudly over the calamities coming your way.
2 Your riches have rotted away, and moths have eaten your clothes.
3 Your gold and silver have corroded; their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up wealth in these final days.
4 Look: the pay you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields is crying out, and the harvesters’ cries have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
5 You have lived on earth amid luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.
6 You condemned and killed the righteous person, and he does not resist you.
7 So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord comes. Look: a farmer waits for the land’s valuable crop, patiently waiting for it to receive the early and late rains.
8 You, too, must be patient. Steady your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
9 Brothers and sisters, do not grumble against one another, so that you will not be judged. Look: the judge is standing at the doors.
10 Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as examples of hardship endured and patience.
11 Look: we call those who held out blessed. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen how the Lord brought things to an end for him, because the Lord is deeply compassionate and merciful.
12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—by heaven, by earth, or by any other oath. Let your “Yes” mean yes and your “No” mean no, so that you do not fall under judgment.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let that person pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let that person sing praise.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let that person call the church’s elders, and let them pray over the sick person, applying oil in the Lord’s name.
15 The prayer offered in faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise that person up. If the person has committed sins, they will be forgiven.
16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. A righteous person’s plea is powerful when it is at work.
17 Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed earnestly for rain to stop, and no rain fell on the land for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed once more; the sky sent rain, and the land grew its crop.
19 My brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and another person brings that one back,
20 know this: whoever turns a sinner back from that person’s mistaken path will save that person’s life from death and cover a multitude of sins.
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