1 Og nu, I rike: Gråt og jamre over eders ulykker, som kommer over eder!
2 Eders rikdom er råtnet, og eders klær er blitt møllett;
3 eders gull og sølv er rustet bort, og rusten på det skal være til vidnesbyrd mot eder og ete eders kjød som en ild; I har samlet skatter i de siste dager!
4 Se, den lønn I har forholdt arbeiderne som har skåret eders akrer, den skriker, og høstfolkenes rop er kommet inn for den Herre Sebaots ører.
5 I har levd i vellevnet på jorden og efter eders lyster; I har gjødd eders hjerter på slaktedagen!
6 I har domfelt og drept den rettferdige; ingen gjør motstand mot eder.
7 Vær da tålmodige, brødre, til Herren kommer! Se, bonden venter på jordens kostelige grøde og bier tålmodig på den, til den får høstregn og vårregn;
8 vær og I tålmodige, styrk eders hjerter! for Herrens komme er nær.
9 Sukk ikke mot hverandre, brødre, forat I ikke skal dømmes! Se, dommeren står for døren.
10 Mine brødre! ta profetene, som talte i Herrens navn, til eders forbillede i å lide ondt og være tålmodig!
11 Se, vi priser dem salige som lider tålmodig. I har hørt om Jobs tålmod og sett den utgang som Herren gjorde; for Herren er overmåte miskunnelig og barmhjertig.
12 Men fremfor alt, mine brødre, sverg ikke, hverken ved himmelen eller ved jorden eller nogen annen ed! men eders ja være ja, og eders nei være nei, forat I ikke skal falle under dommen!
13 Lider nogen iblandt eder ondt, han bede; er nogen vel til mote, han synge lovsanger.
14 Er nogen iblandt eder syk, han kalle til sig menighetens eldste, og de skal bede over ham og salve ham med olje i Herrens navn,
15 og troens bønn skal hjelpe den syke, og Herren skal reise ham op, og har han gjort synder, skal de bli ham forlatt.
16 Bekjenn derfor eders synder for hverandre og bed for hverandre, forat I kan bli lægt! En rettferdig manns bønn har stor kraft i sin virkning.
17 Elias var et menneske under samme vilkår som vi, og han bad at det ikke skulde regne, og det regnet ikke på jorden i tre år og seks måneder;
18 og han bad atter, og himmelen gav regn, og jorden bar sin grøde.
19 Mine brødre! dersom nogen iblandt eder har faret vill fra sannheten, og en omvender ham,
20 han skal vite at den som omvender en synder fra hans villfarende vei, han frelser en sjel fra døden og skjuler en mangfoldighet av synder.
1 Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you.
2 Your wealth is unclean and insects have made holes in your clothing.
3 Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days.
4 See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.
5 You have been living delicately on earth and have taken your pleasure; you have made your hearts fat for a day of destruction.
6 You have given your decision against the upright man and have put him to death. He puts up no fight against you.
7 Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.
8 Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near.
9 Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.
10 Take as an example of pain nobly undergone and of strength in trouble, the prophets who gave to men the words of the Lord.
11 We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.
12 But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? let him say prayers. Is anyone glad? let him make a song of praise.
14 Is anyone among you ill? let him send for the rulers of the church; and let them say prayers over him, putting oil on him in the name of the Lord.
15 And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness.
16 So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.
17 Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 And he made another prayer, and the heaven sent down rain and the earth gave her fruit.
19 My brothers, if one of you has gone out of the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error,
20 Be certain that he through whom a sinner has been turned from the error of his way, keeps a soul from death and is the cause of forgiveness for sins without number.