Warning to the Rich

¹Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.[#Pr 11:28; Isa 13:6]

²Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.[#Job 13:28; Isa 50:9]

³Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures for the last days.[#Ro 2:5]

⁴Behold, the wages that you kept back by fraud from the laborers who harvested your fields are crying, and the cries of those who harvested have entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts.[#Lev 19:13; #Ro 9:29]

⁵You have lived in pleasure on the earth and have been wayward. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.[#Lk 16:19; 1Ti 5:6]

⁶You have condemned and killed the righteous man who does not resist you.

Patience and Prayer

⁷Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Notice how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until he receives the early and late rain.[#Dt 11:14; Jer 5:24]

⁸You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawing near.[#Php 4:5; 1Pe 4:7]

⁹Do not grumble against one another, brothers, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door.[#Mt 24:33; 1Co 4:5]

¹⁰My brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.[#Ac 7:52; Heb 11:32–38]

¹¹Behold, we consider them blessed who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the purpose of the Lord, that the Lord is very gracious and merciful.[#Job 1:21–22; #Ex 34:6]

¹²But above all things, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by the earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No,” that you do not fall into condemnation.

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone merry? Let him sing psalms.[#Ps 50:15; #Eph 5:19]

¹⁴Is anyone 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.[#Ac 14:23; #Mk 6:13; 16:18]

¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.[#Jas 1:6; #Isa 33:24]

¹⁶Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.[#Ge 18:23–32; 20:17]

¹⁷Elijah was a man subject to natural passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.[#1Ki 17:1; Lk 4:25]

¹⁸And he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.[#1Ki 18:42–45]

¹⁹Brothers, if any one of you strays from the truth and someone corrects him,[#Mt 18:15; Gal 6:1]

²⁰let him know that he who converts the sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.[#Ro 11:14; #1Pe 4:8]