James 5

5 ¹ Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted, and your clothes have become moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Look, the wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Father of heaven's armies. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

Wait With Patient Hearts

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits patiently for the precious fruit of the earth, until the land receives the early and late rains. ⁸ You too must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the doors. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of our Father. ¹¹ See, we count those who have endured as blessed. You have heard of Job's endurance, and you have seen the outcome our Father brought about—that our Father is full of tender compassion and mercy.

¹² Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—neither by heaven nor by earth nor by any other oath. Let your "Yes" be yes and your "No" be no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

The Prayer of Faith Heals

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let them pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let them sing praises. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call for the elders of the church, and let the elders pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise them up. And if they have committed sins, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being just like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns them back, ²⁰ let them know that whoever turns a sinner back from the error of their way will save that person's soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.