1 Come now, you rich people, weep aloud and howl over the miseries that are sure to overtake you.
2 Your wealth has rotted, your clothes are moth-eaten,
3 your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will testify against you and devour your flesh like fire. You have stored up these things for the last days.
4 See, the wages that you have kept back from the laborers who reaped your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 Here on earth you have lived in luxury and self-indulgence; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered the upright man; he offers no resistance.
7 So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer keeps on waiting and waiting for the precious crop from his land; how he keeps up his patience over it until he gets the early and late rains,
8 You must be patient, too; you must put iron into your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is close at hand.
9 Stop muttering against one another, brothers, so as to keep from being judged yourselves. Look! The Judge is standing at the very door.
10 As an example of ill-treatment and patience, brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 See how we call those who thus endured happy! You have heard how patiently Job endured and have seen how the Lord finally blessed him, because the Lord is tenderhearted and merciful.
12 Above all, my brothers, stop swearing, either by heaven or by the earth, or by anything else. Let your "Yes" mean Yes, and your "No," No, so as to keep from falling under condemnation.
13 Is any one of you suffering ill-treatment? He should keep on praying. Is anyone in a happy mood? He should keep on singing praise to God.
14 Is anyone sick among you? He should call in the elders of the church, and they should pray over him, and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord,
15 and the prayer that is offered in faith will save the sick man; the Lord will raise him to health, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 So practice confessing your sins to one another, and praying for one another, that you may be cured. An upright man's prayer, when it keeps at work, is very powerful.
17 Elijah was a man with feelings just like ours, and yet he earnestly prayed for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 Then again he prayed, and the heavens yielded rain and the earth produced its crops.