1 Come now, you rich men, weep and shriek over your impending miseries!
2 your wealth lies rotting, and your clothes are moth-eaten;
3 your gold and silver lie rusted over, and their rust will be evidence against you, it will devour your flesh like fire. [Moved to the end of 5:1] You have been storing up treasure in the very last days;
4 See, the wages of which you have defrauded the workmen who mowed your fields call out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
5 You have revelled on earth and plunged into dissipation; you have fattened yourselves as for the Day of slaughter;
6 you have condemned, you have murdered the righteous ??unresisting.
7 Be patient, then, brothers, till the arrival of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop of the land, biding his time patiently till he gets the autumn and the spring rains;
8 have patience yourselves, strengthen your hearts, for the arrival of the Lord is at hand.
9 Do not murmur against one another, brothers, lest you are judged; look, the Judge is standing at the very door!
10 As an example of fortitude and endurance, brothers, take the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord.
11 See, we call the stedfast happy; you have heard of the stedfastness of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord with him, seen that the Lord is very compassionate and pitiful.
12 Above all, my brothers, never swear an oath, either by heaven or by earth or by anything else; let your "yes" be a plain "yes," your "no" a plain "no," lest you incur judgment.
13 Is anyone of you in trouble? let him pray. Is anyone thriving? let him sing praise.
14 Is anyone ill? let him summon the presbyters of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15 the prayer of faith will restore the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; even the sins he has committed will be forgiven him.
16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed; the prayers of the righteous have a powerful effect.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature just like our own; but he offered prayer that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain;
18 then he prayed again, and the sky yielded rain, the earth brought forth its fruit.