James Chapter 5
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
2 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.
4 Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.
5 You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn't resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9 Don't grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won't be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.
10 Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear- not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your "yes" be "yes", and your "no", "no", so that you don't fall into hypocrisy.
13 Is any amongst you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.
14 Is any amongst you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,
15 and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Confess your offences to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brothers, if any amongst you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Footnotes
- Verse 4 (Armies)
- Greek: Sabaoth (for Hebrew: Tze'va'ot)
- Verse 12 (into hypocrisy)
- Textus Receptus reads "under judgement" instead of "into hypocrisy"
Version: World English Bible
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James Chapter 5 Guide
Approaching the conclusion of his letter, the writer addressed a terrible indictment and solemn warning to the rich. He showed the failure of possessions, and how they may become the curse of life.
Selfish life which results in oppression of the poor and consequent robbery of God is known by God. The teaching reveals remarkably the divine passion for justice.
To those who suffer, the writer addressed words full of tender comfort. He called them to patience. All that was said at the beginning of the letter concerning the value of trial in the life is taken for granted. Remembering that God is working through all these processes toward bringing the fruit to maturity and ripeness, it is necessary that His people have patience.
The final paragraph of the epistle contains advice and instructions for differing experiences and needs. "Is any ... suffering?" "Is any ... cheerful?" "Is any ... sickly." Those who are in suffering are charged to pray. Those who are in circumstances of good cheer are to express themselves in praise to God. In dealing with sickness it is most important to remember that here sickness is connected with sin; the raising of the sick is united with forgiveness of sin. The particular cases of sickness were those which were evidently the result of wrongdoing.
In such cases the elders were to be called to act. The use of oil is in itself the indication for such necessity. Any other interpretation would make it a matter of superstition. The Christian man, however, will never depend on natural means alone. While recognizing the place and importance of means, the divine action is also recognized as the ultimate in all healing. The value of this exercise of confession and forgiveness is emphasized by the words with which the epistle closes.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
James Chapter 5 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- The judgments of God denounced against rich unbelievers. -- (1-6)
- Exhortation to patience and meekness under tribulations. -- (7-11)
- Cautions against rash swearing Prayer recommended in afflictive and prosperous circumstances, Christians to confess their faults to each other. -- (12-18)
- The happiness of being the means of the conversion of a sinner. -- (19, 20)
Verses 1-6
Public troubles are most grievous to those who live in pleasure, and are secure and sensual, though all ranks suffer deeply at such times. All idolized treasures will soon perish, except as they will rise up in judgment against their possessors. Take heed of defrauding and oppressing; and avoid the very appearance of it. God does not forbid us to use lawful pleasures; but to live in pleasure, especially sinful pleasure, is a provoking sin. Is it no harm for people to unfit themselves for minding the concerns of their souls, by indulging bodily appetites? The just may be condemned and killed; but when such suffer by oppressors, this is marked by God. Above all their other crimes, the Jews had condemned and crucified that Just One who had come among them, even Jesus Christ the righteous.
Verses 7-11
Consider him that waits for a crop of corn; and will not you wait for a crown of glory? If you should be called to wait longer than the husbandman, is not there something more worth waiting for? In every sense the coming of the Lord drew nigh, and all his people's losses, hardships, and sufferings, would be repaid. Men count time long, because they measure it by their own lives; but all time is as nothing to God; it is as a moment. To short-lived creatures a few years seem an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, reckons thousands of years but so many days. God brought about things in Job's case, so as plainly to prove that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy. This did not appear during his troubles, but was seen in the event, and believers now will find a happy end to their trials. Let us serve our God, and bear our trials, as those who believe that the end will crown all. Our eternal happiness is safe if we trust to him: all else is mere vanity, which soon will be done with for ever.
Verses 12-18
The sin of swearing is condemned; but how many make light of common profane swearing! Such swearing expressly throws contempt upon God's name and authority. This sin brings neither gain, nor pleasure, nor reputation, but is showing enmity to God without occasion and without advantage It shows a man to be an enemy to God, however he pretends to call himself by his name, or sometimes joins in acts of worship. But the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. In a day of affliction nothing is more seasonable than prayer. The spirit is then most humble, and the heart is broken and tender. It is necessary to exercise faith and hope under afflictions; and prayer is the appointed means for obtaining and increasing these graces. Observe, that the saving of the sick is not ascribed to the anointing with oil, but to prayer. In a time of sickness it is not cold and formal prayer that is effectual, but the prayer of faith. The great thing we should beg of God for ourselves and others in the time of sickness is, the pardon of sin. Let nothing be done to encourage any to delay, under the mistaken fancy that a confession, a prayer, a minister's absolution and exhortation, or the sacrament, will set all right at last, where the duties of a godly life have been disregarded. To acknowledge our faults to each other, will tend greatly to peace and brotherly love. And when a righteous person, a true believer, justified in Christ, and by his grace walking before God in holy obedience, presents an effectual fervent prayer, wrought in his heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, raising holy affections and believing expectations and so leading earnestly to plead the promises of God at his mercy-seat, it avails much. The power of prayer is proved from the history of Elijah. In prayer we must not look to the merit of man, but to the grace of God. It is not enough to say a prayer, but we must pray in prayer. Thoughts must be fixed, desires must be firm and ardent, and graces exercised. This instance of the power of prayer, encourages every Christian to be earnest in prayer. God never says to any of the seed of Jacob, Seek my face in vain. Where there may not be so much of miracle in God's answering our prayers, yet there may be as much of grace.
Verses 19, 20
It is no mark of a wise or holy man, to boast of being free from error, or to refuse to acknowledge an error. And there is some doctrinal mistake at the bottom of every practical mistake. There is no one habitually bad, but upon some bad principle. This is conversion; to turn a sinner from the error of his ways, not merely from one party to another, or from one notion and way of thinking to another. There is no way effectually and finally to hide sin, but forsaking it. Many sins are hindered in the party converted; many also may be so in others whom he may influence. The salvation of one soul is of infinitely greater importance than preserving the lives of multitudes, or promoting the welfare of a whole people. Let us in our several stations keep these things in mind, sparing no pains in God's service, and the event will prove that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. For six thousand years He has been multiplying pardons, and yet his free grace is not tired nor grown weary. Certainly Divine mercy is an ocean that is ever full and ever flowing. May the Lord give us a part in this abundant mercy, through the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.