JAMES 5
5 Come on now, you fat-cats, and lament, wailing over the calamities coming upon you! 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothes have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have been made toxic, and this poison shall be a witness to you and will eat your flesh just like the fire you've stored up for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the workers who have reaped your land, which you have fraudulently kept back, cry out, and the cries of the reapers have entered the ears of the Lord of Warriors! 5 You live in luxury on the land, and for pleasure. You fatten your hearts as in a day of butchery. 6 You condemn, you murder the righteous who don’t resist you.
7 Be patient, therefore brothers, until the Lord comes. Take note: the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the land, being patient that it may receive the early and late rains. 8 So you also must be patient. Fortify your hearts strongly because the coming of the Lord is close. 9 Don’t whinge about each other, brothers, so that you won’t be condemned. Look! The judge is standing right at the door! 10 Take as an example of suffering under trials, my brothers, and of patience through them, the prophets who speak the name of the Lord. 11 See! We consider those who endure blessed. You hear of the endurance of Job, and have understood the Lord’s conclusion of things, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. 12 Before all this, though my brothers, don’t swear – neither by heaven nor the earth nor any other oath. Instead let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be ‘no’ so that you mightn’t fall into judgement.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him be praying! Is anyone happy? Let him be playing music! 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Then the vow of faith will restore the faltering one and the Lord will get him back on track, and for any sins he may have done he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your failings to each other and yearn for each other’s healing. The prayer of a righteous person works powerfully. 17 Elijah was a man with desires just like us and he prayed intensely that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t rain for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the land sprouted her fruit.
19 Brothers, if anyone among you is ever led astray from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that the one who turns back a sinner out of his straying path will be rescuing a soul out of death and will be covering many sins.
7 Be patient, therefore brothers, until the Lord comes. Take note: the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the land, being patient that it may receive the early and late rains. 8 So you also must be patient. Fortify your hearts strongly because the coming of the Lord is close. 9 Don’t whinge about each other, brothers, so that you won’t be condemned. Look! The judge is standing right at the door! 10 Take as an example of suffering under trials, my brothers, and of patience through them, the prophets who speak the name of the Lord. 11 See! We consider those who endure blessed. You hear of the endurance of Job, and have understood the Lord’s conclusion of things, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. 12 Before all this, though my brothers, don’t swear – neither by heaven nor the earth nor any other oath. Instead let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be ‘no’ so that you mightn’t fall into judgement.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him be praying! Is anyone happy? Let him be playing music! 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Then the vow of faith will restore the faltering one and the Lord will get him back on track, and for any sins he may have done he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your failings to each other and yearn for each other’s healing. The prayer of a righteous person works powerfully. 17 Elijah was a man with desires just like us and he prayed intensely that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t rain for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the land sprouted her fruit.
19 Brothers, if anyone among you is ever led astray from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that the one who turns back a sinner out of his straying path will be rescuing a soul out of death and will be covering many sins.
(13 - 15)
Suggested amplification/paraphrase:
If anyone’s suffering (struggling emotionally with something bad) they should pray! If anyone’s happy, they should play music! If anyone is physically sick they should call for the elders in their church to pray over him and anoint him with oil (they used olive oil) in Jesus’ name. Then the vow of faith (by the sick person, not so much by those who are praying for them, but the sick person reaffirms that they trust God, having faith in him and his goodness and power, in the circumstances. In the KJV, for example, the Greek word is more often translated as ‘vow’, not ‘prayer’) will restore the faltering (doubting, troubled, scared, worried) person and the Lord will get him back on track, rebuilding his confidence (typically ‘raise him up’, where the idea seems to be one of bringing order from scattered thoughts. The word used, egerei, has the same root as the word agora meaning a gathering, usually of people. Biblically, scattering tends to be a negative thing while gathering is a blessing), and if they have sinned in this way (i.e. with regard to these things) God will forgive them – as part of this restoration on the basis of their renewed faith. (It’s not that they aren’t forgiven for all their sins before, i.e. eternal justification, but James may be highlighting that these specific sins – of doubt – are taken away as well, which would be an encouragement in the circumstances.) So physical healing may or may not occur - that's at God's discretion - but this passage is concerned with the state of mind/heart of the sick person, that their faith in God is strengthened whatever the outcome. Also, this flows much more naturally into v16 because James is continuing the idea that the sick person has a weakness or failing that needs to be confessed to his brothers in Christ. With the traditional interpretation, the end of v15 into v16 seems a bit disjointed from the rest of vv13-15. And in some translations (e.g. NIV) it makes it seem that it’s the sin that is causing the sickness, something Jesus would refute, I believe (John 9:1-3).
Apologies to my more charismatic brothers and sisters who may take exception to this, but that's what it seems to be saying!
Suggested amplification/paraphrase:
If anyone’s suffering (struggling emotionally with something bad) they should pray! If anyone’s happy, they should play music! If anyone is physically sick they should call for the elders in their church to pray over him and anoint him with oil (they used olive oil) in Jesus’ name. Then the vow of faith (by the sick person, not so much by those who are praying for them, but the sick person reaffirms that they trust God, having faith in him and his goodness and power, in the circumstances. In the KJV, for example, the Greek word is more often translated as ‘vow’, not ‘prayer’) will restore the faltering (doubting, troubled, scared, worried) person and the Lord will get him back on track, rebuilding his confidence (typically ‘raise him up’, where the idea seems to be one of bringing order from scattered thoughts. The word used, egerei, has the same root as the word agora meaning a gathering, usually of people. Biblically, scattering tends to be a negative thing while gathering is a blessing), and if they have sinned in this way (i.e. with regard to these things) God will forgive them – as part of this restoration on the basis of their renewed faith. (It’s not that they aren’t forgiven for all their sins before, i.e. eternal justification, but James may be highlighting that these specific sins – of doubt – are taken away as well, which would be an encouragement in the circumstances.) So physical healing may or may not occur - that's at God's discretion - but this passage is concerned with the state of mind/heart of the sick person, that their faith in God is strengthened whatever the outcome. Also, this flows much more naturally into v16 because James is continuing the idea that the sick person has a weakness or failing that needs to be confessed to his brothers in Christ. With the traditional interpretation, the end of v15 into v16 seems a bit disjointed from the rest of vv13-15. And in some translations (e.g. NIV) it makes it seem that it’s the sin that is causing the sickness, something Jesus would refute, I believe (John 9:1-3).
Apologies to my more charismatic brothers and sisters who may take exception to this, but that's what it seems to be saying!