New Testament · Letter

James 5

Patient in Suffering

The farmer waits for rain. Job endured to the end. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James closes with a call to bring back the wanderer.

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1Go 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.

7Be 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.

12But 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.

14Is 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.

19Brethren, 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.

Understand This

James 5, explained

What James 5 is saying

James opens with a prophetic denunciation of the wealthy who have hoarded riches, defrauded laborers, and lived in self-indulgent luxury—their corroded gold will testify against them. He then exhorts the suffering community to patient endurance (makrothymia), using the farmer awaiting harvest and Job's perseverance as models. The chapter addresses oath-taking, prayer for the sick with anointing by elders, the confession of sins, and concludes with the ministry of restoring the wandering—whoever turns a sinner back saves a soul from death.

The background behind it

The denunciation of rich landowners echoes Amos and Isaiah's prophetic social criticism. The prayer-and-anointing practice described reflects early Christian healing ministry also attested in Mark 6:13, with oil serving both medicinal and symbolic functions. Elijah's prayer is cited as the paradigm of effective prayer.

Themes running underneath

The eschatological judgment on unjust wealth provides the theological framework for patience: the Lord's coming (parousia) is near, and divine justice will vindicate the oppressed. The communal prayer and confession practices reveal an ecclesiology where healing, forgiveness, and restoration are corporate responsibilities, not merely individual spiritual activities.

Why it still matters

James's social critique challenges believers to examine how they relate to wealth, labor, and economic justice. His vision of church life—where the sick are visited, sins are confessed to one another, and the wandering are pursued—presents a radically interconnected community of mutual care.

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Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.