James 5

The AIT Bible

A Warning to the Rich

1Come now, you rich, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you.

2Your wealth has rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten,

3your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.

4Look, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the outcries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

5You have lived in luxury on the earth and given yourselves to indulgence; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

6You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous one; he does not resist you.

Waiting for the Lord's Coming

7Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Look, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the latter rain.

8You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.

9Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the doors.

10Take as an example, brothers, of suffering and patience the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord.

11Look, we count blessed those who have endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the outcome from the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

On Swearing Oaths

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

The Prayer of Faith

13Is anyone among you suffering hardship? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

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.

15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him.

16Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its working.

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.

18And again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth its fruit.

Restoring One Who Wanders

19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,

20know that whoever turns a sinner back from the wandering of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

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