The big picture
Proud plans and neglected duties have come under rebuke from James, the speaker in this letter. He now addresses rich people who keep wages owed to workers. Their comfort does not hide the harm from God. He then turns to believers who must wait for the Lord while facing pain. Patient hope belongs beside truthful speech, prayer, and care for the sick. The letter ends with one believer bringing another back from error, a final act of faith expressed through help.
In this chapter
- Stolen Wages Cry Out James 5:1-6
James warns the rich to weep over the misery ahead.
- Patient Hope Under Pressure James 5:7-11
Fellow believers now hear James urge patience until the Lord comes.
- Plain Speech and Honest Prayer James 5:12-13
James tells his fellow believers not to reinforce their words with oaths.
- Prayer Beside the Sick James 5:14-18
A sick believer should call the community leaders, James says.
- Bringing a Wanderer Back James 5:19-20
James closes by addressing the believers as people responsible for one another.
Central truth
James warns that God hears cheated workers and calls the believing community to patient hope, honest speech, prayer, and restoration.
Scripture beside the summary
James · King James Version · 20James 5:1-6
Stolen Wages Cry Out
James warns the rich to weep over the misery ahead. Stored wealth is rotting, fine clothes are ruined, and even treasure bears witness against its owners. They have piled up riches as judgement draws near. Workers harvested their fields but received no pay because the owners cheated them. Both the unpaid wages and the workers cry out to God, the Lord of heavenly armies. Meanwhile the rich have lived in luxury, feeding themselves for slaughter. James also charges them with condemning and killing an innocent person who does not resist.
In everyday life
A rice cutter waits beside the farm wage table with a record of completed work. The owner counts money for a new house but leaves the pay envelope empty. Other workers stand quietly with their own records. The unpaid sums remain evidence of the theft. James announces divine judgement and also charges the rich with killing.
Notice
James 5:4 The workers do not need access to the wealth of their employers to be heard. James says their cries have already reached the Lord.
James 5:1-6
King James Version1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3Your 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.
4Behold, 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.
5Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
James 5:7-11
Patient Hope Under Pressure
Fellow believers now hear James urge patience until the Lord comes. A farmer waits through the seasons of rain for a precious crop. In the same way, the believers must hold firm as the Lord draws near. They must not turn their distress into complaints against one another. The judge is close, so their own conduct matters. Prophets, people who spoke for God, endured hardship before them. Job, a man remembered for suffering and endurance, also shows the outcome of the Lord acting with compassion and mercy.
In everyday life
A nursery grower walks between seed beds after a long dry week. She checks the roots and keeps the young plants shaded. She cannot force the season to finish by pulling at the shoots. Care continues while she waits for growth. The Lord returns as judge; a growing season makes no moral judgement.
Notice
James 5:11 James points to the end of Job and to the character of the Lord. Endurance is set within divine compassion, not praised as pain for its own sake.
James 5:7-11
King James Version7Be 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.
8Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
9Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
10Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11Behold, 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.
James 5:12-13
Plain Speech and Honest Prayer
James tells his fellow believers not to reinforce their words with oaths. He names appeals to heaven, earth, or any other oath. A clear yes or no should stand without such added pledges, so their speech does not bring condemnation. Christians differ on whether this forbids every formal oath or targets oath taking that corrupts truthful speech. James then gives fitting responses to different conditions. Those in trouble should pray, while those who are glad should sing praise. Both grief and joy have a place before God.
In everyday life
A choir member returns a borrowed score in the vestry. Asked whether every page is there, he counts them and gives a clear answer. He does not add grand promises to cover uncertainty. Then he joins a song of thanks for good news. James addresses speech before God, not merely a reliable music loan.
Notice
James 5:13 Trouble and gladness receive different responses, yet both turn toward God. James does not require everyone in the community to express the same mood.
James 5:12-13
King James Version12But 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.
13Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
James 5:14-18
Prayer Beside the Sick
A sick believer should call the community leaders, James says. They are to pray and apply oil in the name of the Lord. James links prayer offered in faith with the Lord raising the sick person and forgiving sins. He also calls for faults to be confessed and for mutual prayer toward healing. Christians differ on the role of this anointing and how its promise of healing works. James cites Elias, a prophet who shared ordinary human weakness. His prayers were linked with a drought lasting three years and six months, followed by rain and renewed crops.
In everyday life
A visiting friend pulls a chair beside a bed in a home sickroom. Two neighbours sit with her and listen as the patient names fears and regrets. They pray together before one brings a drink within reach. Illness does not leave the patient alone. James promises the Lord acts through prayer, not only human comfort.
Notice
James 5:17 Elias shares the same human frailty as those hearing the letter. James grounds his example in that likeness, rather than presenting prayer as an ability reserved for unusual people.
James 5:14-18
King James Version14Is 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:
15And 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.
16Confess 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.
17Elias 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.
18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
James 5:19-20
Bringing a Wanderer Back
James closes by addressing the believers as people responsible for one another. A member can stray from the truth. Another can bring that person back from the wrong path. James describes the stakes in grave terms: rescuing a soul from death and covering many sins. This is more than correcting a small mistake in an argument. It concerns a life moving toward ruin and the act of drawing that life back. The letter ends with care that does something, not with a claim of concern left unfulfilled.
In everyday life
A walking guide spots a visitor passing the warning rope at a cliff lookout. She calls his name from the safe side and explains the crumbling edge ahead. He turns and walks back through the gate. Her concern takes the form of a timely call. James concerns sin and death of the soul, not a dangerous view.
Notice
James 5:20 The person brought back is called a sinner, yet restoration remains possible. James ends with rescue and covered sins rather than leaving the wanderer defined by failure.
James 5:19-20
King James Version19Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20Let 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.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
James 5:1 begins with “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.”
Where the chapter turns
James 5:12 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
James 5:20 leaves the reader with “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.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Lord, brethren, earth, patience, pray, rain help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- husbandman
- A farmer who tends crops and waits for the harvest.
- elders
- Recognised leaders who care for the local community of believers.
- Elias
- The prophet named here as an example of a human being whose prayers mattered.
Music and video connected to the passage
No exact media match is cataloged for this passage yet. New material can be connected when it becomes available.