1 C ome now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.

Listen, you rich men! Cry about the troubles that will come to you.

2 Y our riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.

Your riches are worth nothing. Your fine clothes are full of moth holes.

3 Y our 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.

Your gold and silver have rusted. Their rust will speak against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have saved riches for yourselves for the last days.

4 B ehold, the wages of the laborers 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.

See! The men working in your fields are crying against you because you have kept back part of their pay. Their cries have been heard by the Lord Who hears His people.

5 Y ou have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

You have had everything while you lived on the earth and have enjoyed its fun. You have made your hearts fat and are ready to be killed as an animal is killed.

6 Y ou have condemned, you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.

You have killed men who are right with God who were not making it hard for you. The Lord Will Come Again

7 B e 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.

Christian brothers, be willing to wait for the Lord to come again. Learn from the farmer. He waits for the good fruit from the earth until the early and late rains come.

8 Y ou also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

You must be willing to wait also. Be strong in your hearts because the Lord is coming again soon.

9 D on’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.

Do not complain about each other, Christian brothers. Then you will not be judged. See! The Judge is standing at the door.

10 T ake, brothers, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

See how the early preachers spoke for the Lord by their suffering and by being willing to wait.

11 B ehold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

We think of those who stayed true to Him as happy even though they suffered. You have heard how long Job waited. You have seen what the Lord did for him in the end. The Lord is full of loving-kindness and pity.

12 B ut 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.

My Christian brothers, do not swear. Do not use heaven or earth or anything else to swear by. If you mean yes, say yes. If you mean no, say no. You will be guilty for saying anything more. The Power of Prayer in Healing

13 I s any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone happy? He should sing songs of thanks to God.

14 I s any among 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,

Is anyone among you sick? He should send for the church leaders and they should pray for him. They should pour oil on him in the name of the Lord.

15 a nd 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.

The prayer given in faith will heal the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

16 C onfess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.

Tell your sins to each other. And pray for each other so you may be healed. The prayer from the heart of a man right with God has much power.

17 E lijah 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.

Elijah was a man as we are. He prayed that it might not rain. It did not rain on the earth for three and one-half years.

18 H e prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Then he prayed again that it would rain. It rained much and the fields of the earth gave fruit. Bring Back Those Who Are Lost in Sin

19 B rothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,

My Christian brothers, if any of you should be led away from the truth, let someone turn him back again.

20 l et 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.

That person should know that if he turns a sinner from the wrong way, he will save the sinner’s soul from death and many sins will be forgiven.