James 5:7-20

Patience in Suffering

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ¹the early and the late rains.

8 You also, be patient. ²Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ³is at hand.

9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ⁴so that you may not be judged; behold, ⁵the Judge is standing ⁶at the door.

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ⁷the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ⁸the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ⁹the purpose of the Lord, how ¹⁰the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brothers, ¹¹do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ¹²sing praise.

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ¹³anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ¹⁴if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

16 Therefore, ¹⁵confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ¹⁶that you may be healed. ¹⁷The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.^[b]

17 Elijah was a man ¹⁸with a nature like ours, and ¹⁹he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ²⁰three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

18 ²¹Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

19 My brothers, ²²if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ²³brings him back,

20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ²⁴will save his soul from death and ²⁵will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:7-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JAMES 5

In this chapter the apostle reproves the vices of rich men, and denounces the judgments of God upon them; exhorts the saints to patience under sufferings; warns them from vain and profane swearing, and presses to various duties and branches of religious worship, private and public, and to the performance of several good offices of love to one another. He represents the miseries of wicked rich men as just at hand, Jas 5:1 because they made no use of their riches, either for themselves, or others, and because of the trust they put in them, heaping them up against a time to come, Jas 5:2,3, and because of their injustice in detaining the hire of labourers from them, Jas 5:4 and because of their wantonness and luxury, Jas 5:5 and because of their cruelty to the innocent, Jas 5:6 and such who suffer at their hands are exhorted to exercise patience, from the instance of the husbandman waiting patiently for the fruit of the earth, and the rain to produce it; and from the consideration of the coming of Christ, the Judge, being near at hand, Jas 5:7-9 and from the example of the prophets of the Lord, who suffered much, and were patient, and so happy; and particularly from the instance of Job, his patience, the end of the Lord in his afflictions, and his pity and compassion towards him, Jas 5:10,11. But of all things the apostle entreats them, that they would take care of profane swearing, and all vain oaths, since these bring into condemnation, Jas 5:12 and from hence he passes to various exercises of religion; the afflicted he advises to prayer; and those in comfortable circumstances of body and mind to singing of psalms, Jas 5:13, and such that are sick, to send for the elders of the church to pray over them, and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord, whereby not only the sick man would be delivered from his sickness, the Lord raising him up, but even his sins would be declared to be forgiven, Jas 5:14,15. And not only it became the elders to pray for sick persons, but also the saints in general, one for another, and to acknowledge their faults to each other, since the fervent prayer of every righteous man is of great avail with God, Jas 5:16 of which an instance is given in Elias, whose prayer, though a man subject to like passions as other men, against, and for rain, was very successful, Jas 5:17,18. And Christians should not only be concerned for the health of each other's bodies, but also for the good of their souls; wherefore, whenever it is observed that any are straying from the path of truth, methods should be taken to restore them, and turn them from the error of their ways; and whoever is the happy instrument of such a restoration is the means of saving a soul from death, and hiding a multitude of sins, Jas 5:19,20.

Cross References

• 1. See Deuteronomy 11:14
• 2. 1 Thessalonians 3:13
• 3. 1 Peter 4:7; [Romans 13:11, 12; Philippians 4:5; Hebrews 10:25, 37]
• 4. Matthew 7:1
• 5. [1 Peter 4:5; Revelation 22:12]
• 6. Matthew 24:33; Mark 13:29; [1 Corinthians 4:5]
• 7. Matthew 5:12; Matthew 23:34; Acts 7:52; Hebrews 11:32-38
• 8. Job 1:21, 22; Job 2:10
• 9. Job 42:10, 12
• 10. See Exodus 34:6
• 11. Matthew 5:34
• 12. [Colossians 3:16]
• 13. Mark 6:13; [Mark 16:18]
• 14. Isaiah 33:24; Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5; Luke 5:20
• 15. Acts 19:18
• 16. Hebrews 12:13
• 17. Genesis 18:23-32; Genesis 20:17; Numbers 11:2; 1 Kings 13:6; 1 Kings 17:22; 2 Kings 4:33; 2 Kings 19:15-20; 2 Kings 20:2-5; Job 42:8; Proverbs 15:29
• 18. Acts 14:15
• 19. 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:1
• 20. Luke 4:25
• 21. 1 Kings 18:42, 45
• 22. [Matthew 18:15; Galatians 6:1]
• 23. Psalms 51:13; Daniel 12:3; Malachi 2:6; [Luke 1:16]
• 24. See Romans 11:14
• 25. 1 Peter 4:8; [Nehemiah 4:5; Psalms 32:1; Psalms 85:2; Proverbs 10:12]

Footnotes

• [a]. Or brothers and sisters; also verses 9, 10, 12, 19
• [b]. Or The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power