James 5

A woe to the rich that oppress the poor. Exhortations to patience and to avoid swearing. Of the anointing the sick, confession of sins and fervour in prayer.

1Act now, you who are wealthy! Weep and wail in your miseries, which will soon come upon you! 2Your riches have been corrupted, and your garments have been eaten by moths. 3Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be a testimony against you, and it will eat away at your flesh like fire. You have stored up wrath for yourselves unto the last days. 4Consider the pay of the workers who reaped your fields: it has been misappropriated by you; it cries out. And their cry has entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5You have feasted upon the earth, and you have nourished your hearts with luxuries, unto the day of slaughter. 6You led away and killed the Just One, and he did not resist you.

7Therefore, be patient, brothers, until the advent of the Lord. Consider that the farmer anticipates the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently, until he receives the early and the late rains. ▼
▼5:7The early and the late rains figuratively represent the first and second parts of the tribulation, each of which bears the fruit of holiness and of the spread of the Gospel after a time of suffering.(Conte)
 8Therefore, you too should be patient and should strengthen your hearts. For the advent of the Lord draws near. 9Brothers, do not complain against one another, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge stands before the door. 10My brothers, consider the Prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of departing from evil, of labor, and of patience. 11Consider that we beatify those who have endured. You have heard of the patient suffering of Job. And you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is merciful and compassionate. 12But before all things, my brothers, do not choose to swear, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor in any other oath. But let your word ‘Yes’ be yes, and your word ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

13Is any of you sad? Let him pray. Is he even-tempered? Let him sing psalms. ▼
▼5:13When one is sad, praying lifts one up out of sadness. When one is calm, singing psalms lifts one up again, to exultation. The expression ‘aequo amino’ refers to a calm and level mood. The word ‘psallat’ is not merely singing but the singing of hymns and psalms.(Conte)
 14Is anyone ill among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ▼
▼5:14The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick can forgive sins.(Conte)
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▼5:14 Let him bring in, etc: See here a plain warrant of scripture for the sacrament of extreme unction, that any controversy against its institution would be against the express words of the sacred text in the plainest terms.(Challoner)
 15And a prayer of faith will save the infirm, and the Lord will alleviate him. And if he has sins, these will be forgiven him. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be saved. For the unremitting prayer of a just person prevails over many things. ▼
▼5:16 Confess your sins one to another: That is, to the priests of the church, whom (ver.14) he had ordered to be called for, and brought in to the sick; moreover, to confess to persons who had no power to forgive sins, would be useless. Hence the precept here means, that we must confess to men whom God has appointed, and who, by their ordination and jurisdiction, have received the power of remitting sins in his name.(Challoner)
 17Elijah was a mortal man like us, and in prayer he prayed that it would not rain upon the earth. And it did not rain for three years and six months. ▼
▼5:17This drought of three and one half years was a foreshadowing of the drought which will occur throughout the whole world during the last half of the Antichrist’s reign (3.5 years). At that time, the two prophets of Revelation will strike the earth with a terrible drought by a word of prayer to God. The repetition in the phrase ‘oratione oravit’ indicates an intensification of the verb; i.e. he prayed intensely.(Conte)
 18And he prayed again. And the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 19My brothers, if anyone of you strays from the truth, and if someone converts him, 20he ought to know that whoever causes a sinner to be converted from the error of his ways will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

The Letter of James
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