James, 5

1. Go to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon [you].

1. So, now for what concerns the rich! Cry and weep for the misfortunes which are coming upon you.

2. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

2. Your riches are rotting and your clothes eaten up by the moths.

3. Your 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.

3. Your silver and gold have rusted and their rust grows into a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire, for having piled up riches in these the last days.

4. Behold, 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.

4. You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers' complaints have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

5. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

5. You lived in luxury and pleasure in this world and felt happy while others were murdered.

6. Ye have condemned [and] killed the just; [and] he doth not resist you.

6. You have easily condemned and killed the innocent since they offered no resistance.

7. Be 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.

7. Be patient then, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. See how the sower waits for the precious fruits of the earth, looking forward patiently to the autumn and spring rains.

8. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

8. You also be patient and do not lose heart, because the Lord's coming is near.

9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

9. Beloved, do not fight among yourselves and you will not be judged. See, the judge is already at the door.

10. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

10. Take for yourselves, as an example of patience, the suffering of the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name.

11. Behold, 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.

11. See how those who were patient are called blessed. You have heard of the patience of Job and know how the Lord dealt with him in the end. For the Lord is merciful and shows compassion.

12. But 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.

12. Above all, my beloved, do not swear either by heaven or by earth, or make a habit of swearing. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, lest you become liable for judgment.

13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

13. Are any among you discouraged? They should pray. Are any of you happy? They should sing songs to God.

14. Is 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:

14. If anyone is sick, let him call on the elders of the Church. They shall pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

15. And 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.

15. The prayer said in faith will save the sick person; the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

16. Confess [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.

16. There will be healing if you confess your sins to one another and pray for each other. The prayer of the upright man has great power, provided he perseveres.

17. Elias 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.

17. Elijah was a human being like ourselves and when he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, no rain fell for three and a half years.

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

18. Then he prayed again: the sky yielded rain and the earth produced its fruit.

19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

19. Brothers, if any one of you strays far away from the truth and another person brings him back to it,

20. Let 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.

20. be sure of this: he who brings back a sinner from the wrong way will save his soul from death and win forgiveness for many sins.