1Listen, you who are rich: weep and howl for the miseries that are coming on you. 2Your riches are corrupted and your garments are eaten by moths.2275 3Your gold and silver are rusted; their rust will be a testimony against you and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. 4Behold, the wages of the laborers who worked in your fields and which you have kept back by fraud cry out! The cries of those who reaped [for you] have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.2276 5On earth, you have lived in luxury and taken your pleasure. You have eaten to your hearts’ content as in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one who does not resist you.
Exhortation to patience—Anointing with oil
7Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. 8You also should be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9Brethren, do not grumble against one another, in order not to be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door! 10My brethren, consider as an example of suffering and patience the prophets who spoke in the Name of the Lord. 11Behold, we call those who endure blessed. You have heard of the patience of Job and you have seen the Lord in the outcome, how the Lord2277 is full of compassion and mercy.
12But above all things, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or earth, or by any other oath. Instead, let your “yes” be “yes,” and your “no,” “no,” so that you may not fall into hypocrisy.2278
13Are any among you suffering? Let them2279 pray. Are any cheerful? Let them sing praises! 14Are any among you sick? Let them call for the presbyters of the Church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the Name of the Lord.2280 15The prayer of faith will heal those who are sick and the Lord will raise them up. If they have committed sins, they will be forgiven. 16Confess your offenses to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective! 17Elias (Elijah) was a man in every way like us, and when he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months! 18When he prayed later on, the sky gave rain and the earth brought forth its fruit.
19Brethren, if someone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.2281
- Compare Matthew 6:19-20
- Or “of hosts”—Hebrew: Tze’va’ot (“of armies/of angelic hosts”)
- Greek “he”
- TR/CT reads “fall under condemnation”
- Verse 13-15: the Greek masc. sing. is translated as plural.
- Compare Mark 6:13
- Compare 1 Peter 4:8
Text: The Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible, New Testament (EOB). Used with permission.
