[1] Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying
because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you. [2] Your wealth is
unclean and insects have made holes in your clothing. [3] Your gold and
your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you,
burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days. [4]
See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the
grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who
took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies. [5] You
have been living delicately on earth and have taken your pleasure; you have
made your hearts fat for a day of destruction. [6] You have given your
decision against the upright man and have put him to death. He puts up no
fight against you. [7] Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming
of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till
the early and late rains have come. [8] Be as calm in your waiting; let
your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near. [9] Say no
hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged;
see, the judge is waiting at the doors. [10] Take as an example of pain
nobly undergone and of strength in trouble, the prophets who gave to men
the words of the Lord. [11] We say that those men who have gone through
pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he
went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.
[12] But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or
by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No
be No: so that you may not be judged. [13] Is anyone among you in trouble?
let him say prayers. Is anyone glad? let him make a song of praise. [14] Is
anyone among you ill? let him send for the rulers of the church; and let
them say prayers over him, putting oil on him in the name of the Lord. [15]
And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he
will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will
have forgiveness. [16] So then, make a statement of your sins to one
another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The
prayer of a good man is full of power in its working. [17] Elijah was a man
of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might
be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six
months. [18] And he made another prayer, and the heaven sent down rain and
the earth gave her fruit. [19] My brothers, if one of you has gone out of
the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error, [20] Be
certain that he through whom a sinner has been turned from the error of his
way, keeps a soul from death and is the cause of forgiveness for sins
without number.
