James 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 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.

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

14 Is 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;

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 sins 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 among 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.

Around James 5

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

James 5 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

James ends with the voices of people who have not been heard. The wages of the laborers who mowed the fields, kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries have entered the ears of the Lord of Armies. He speaks sternly to the rich who have lived in luxury while their gold and silver corrode.

Then he turns to the patient. Wait like the farmer who waits for the early and late rain. Don't grumble against one another. Take the prophets as an example of suffering and perseverance, and remember Job, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

The last section is about prayer. Is any suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing. If someone is sick, call for the elders, who pray and anoint with oil in the name of the Lord. “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another”. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed, and it did not rain for three years and six months. The letter ends with turning a wanderer back.

Background

This last chapter moves from a warning about wealth to patience and then to prayer. Christians have understood the anointing of the sick in different ways: Catholic and Orthodox churches have a sacrament based on it, while many Protestant churches practice prayer with anointing or simply prayer. The text promises forgiveness and healing in the context of prayer, and it does not give medical advice. The story of Elijah is in 1 Kings 17 and 18.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake

CommunityVoices, not sources

Readers share what this chapter means to them in the app.

See what readers say about James 5

World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes