James 5

James · Chapter 5

James 5:1

1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.2Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.3Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.4Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.5Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.6Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.7Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.8Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.9Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.10Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.11Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.12But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.13Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.14Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.17Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.19Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;20Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

James 5:1-6A warning to the rich

About James 5James warns the rich who kept back the hire of their labourers by fraud that their riches are corrupted and "the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth." He tells the brethren, "Be patient therefore... unto the coming of the Lord," like the husbandman waiting for rain, and points to the prophets and "the patience of Job." He closes with prayer: let the afflicted pray and the sick call the elders, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much," as Elias showed, and whoever turns a sinner back "shall save a soul from death." James 5:1James 5:2James 5:4James 5:7James 5:10James 5:11James 5:13James 5:14James 5:16James 5:17James 5:20James overview

Who, where and when in this chapter

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
do comeἌγεAgeG0071
to lead

ἄγε (age) ἄγε, prop. imperat. of ἄγω, come! used as adv. and addressed, like φέρε, to one or more persons: Jas.4:13, 5:1.† (AS)

nowνῦνnunG3568
now

νῦν (nun) νῦν, adv., [in LXX chiefly for עַתָּה ;] 1. prop., of time, now, i.e. at the present time: as opposite to past, Jhn.4:18, Act.7:52, Rom.13:11, 2Co.7:9, Col.1:24, al.; opposite to fut., Jhn.12:27, Rom.11:31, al.; with art., ὁ (ἡ, τὸ) and subst., the present: Rom.3:26, Gal.4:25, 1Ti.6:17, Tit.2:12, al.; απὸ τοῦ ν. (LXX for מֵעַתָּה), Luk.1:48, Act.18:6, al.; ἄχρι τοῦ ν., Rom.8:22, Php.1:5; ἕως τοῦ ν. (LXX for עַד עַתָּה), Mat.24:21, Mrk.13:19; τὰ ν., as regards the present, Act.5:38; with pret., just now, but now, Mat.26:65, Jhn.11:8 21:10; with fut., now, presently, Jhn.12:31, Act.20:22; so w …

rich,πλούσιοι,plousioiG4145
rich

πλούσιος (plousios) πλούσιος, -α, -ον (πλοῦτος), [in LXX chiefly for עָשִׁיר ;] rich, wealthy: Mat.27:57, Luk.12:16 14:12 16:1, 19 18:23 19:2. Substantively, ὁ π., Luk.16:21-22, Jas.1:10-11; oἱ π., Luk.6:24 21:1, 1Ti.6:17, Jas.2:6 5:1, Rev.6:15 13:16; anarth., a rich man, Mat.19:23-24, Mrk.10:25 12:41, Luk.18:25. Metaphorical, of God, ἐν ἐλέει (= cl., with genitive, dative), Eph.2:4; of Christ, 2Co.8:9; of Christians, Rev.2:9 3:17; ἐν πίστει, Jas.2:5.† (AS)

do weepκλαύσατεklausateG2799
to weep

κλαίω (klaiō) κλαίω [in LXX chiefly for בָּכָה ;] of any loud expression of pain or sorrow, esp. for the dead, to weep, lament; (a) intrans.: Mrk.5:38-39 14:72 (M, Pr., 131) Mrk.16:10, Luk.7:13, 32 7:38 8:52, Jhn.11:31, 33 16:20 20:11, 13 20:15 Act.9:39 21:13, 1Co.7:30, Php.3:18, Jas.4:9 5:1, Rev.5:5 18:15, 19; πολύ, Rev.5:4; πολλά, Act.8:24 (WH, mg.); πικρῶς, Mat.26:75, Luk.22:62; opposite to γελάω, Luk.6:21, 25; χαίρω, Rom.12:15; before ἐπί, with accusative, Luk.19:41 23:28, Rev.18:9; (b) trans., with accusative of person(s), to weep or lament for, bewail: Mat.2:18.† SYN.: see: δακρύω (AS)

wailingὀλολύζοντεςololuzontesG3649
to wail

ὀλολύζω (ololuzō) ὀλολύζω (onomatop.), [in LXX chiefly for יָלַל hi. ;] (in Hom., of women crying to the gods in prayer or thanksgiving), to cry aloud: Jas.5:1.† (AS)

overἐπὶepiG1909
upon/to/against

ἐπί (epi) ἐπί (before a smooth breathing ἐπ᾽, before a rough breathing ἐφ᾽), prep. with genitive, dative, accusative (accusative most frequently in NT), with primary sense of superposition, on, upon. I. C. genitive, 1. of place, answering the question, where? …

miseriesταλαιπωρίαιςtalaipōriaisG5004
misery

ταλαιπωρία (talaipōria) ταλαιπωρία, -ας, ἡ (ταλαίπωρος) [in LXX chiefly for שֹׁד ;] 1. hard work (Hippocr.). 2. hardship, suffering, distress: Rom.3:16 (LXX) pl., Jas.5:1 (see B1., § 32, 6; WM, 220; Swete, Mk., 153). (Hdt., Thuc., al.; and cf. MM, xxiv.)† (AS)

upon youὑμῶνhumōnG4771
you

σέ (se) αὐτός, -ή, -ό, determinative pron., in late Gk. much more frequently than in cl. (WM, 178f.; Jannaris, HGG, §1399). 1. Emphatic (so always in nom. exc. when preceded by the art., see infr., iii); (1) self (ipse), expressing opposition, distinction, exclusion, etc., αὐ. ἐκχυθήσεται, Luk.5:37; αὐ. ἐγινώσκεν, Jhn.2:25; αὐ.ὑμεῖς, Jhn.3:28; καὶ αὐ. ἐγώ, Rom.15:14; αὐ. Ἰησοῦς, Jhn.2:24; αὐ. καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, Mrk.2:25; ὑμεῖς αὐ., Mrk.6:31; esp. (as freq in cl.) αὐ. ὁ, Mat.3:4, Mrk.6:17, Jhn.16:27, 1Th.3:11, al.; in late Gk., sometimes weakened, ἐν αὐτῇ τ. ὥρᾳ, in that hour, Luk.10:21 (M, Pr., 91; …

coming.ἐπερχομέναις.eperchomenaisG1904
to arrive/invade

ἐπέρχομαι (eperchomai) ἐπ-έρχομαι, [in LXX for בּוֹא, עָבַר, etc. ;] 1. to come to, arrive, come on: before ἀπό, with genitive loc., Act.14:19 (ἐπῆλθαν; cf. M, Pr., 65; Deiss., BS, 191); of time, Eph.2:7. 2. to come upon (as in Hom.): of calamities, Luk.21:26, Act.8:24 13:40, Jas.5:1; of an enemy, Luk.11:22; of the Holy Spirit, Luk.1:35, Act.1:8, [in LXX: γίγνομαι ἐπί, Jdg.14:6, 3Ki.11:6, al.].† (AS)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.