5COME NOW, you rich [people], weep aloud and lament over the miseries (the woes) that are surely coming upon you.G33G3568G4145G2799G3649G1909G5216G5004G19042Your abundant wealth has rotted {and} is ruined, and your [many] garments have become moth-eaten.G5216G4149G4595G2532G5216G2440G1096G45983Your gold and silver are completely rusted through, and their rust will be testimony against you and it will devour your flesh as if it were fire. You have heaped together treasure for the last days.G5216G5557G2532G696G2728G2532G2447G846G2071G3142G1519G5213G2532G5315G5216G4561G5613G4442G2343G1722G2078G22504[But] look! [Here are] the wages that you have withheld by fraud from the laborers who have reaped your fields, crying out [for vengeance]; and the cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts.G2400G3408G2040G3588G270G5216G5561G3588G575G5216G650G2896G2532G995G2325G1525G1519G3775G2962G45195[Here] on earth you have abandoned yourselves to soft (prodigal) living and to [the pleasures of] self-indulgence {and} self-gratification. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.G5171G1909G1093G2532G4684G5142G5216G2588G5613G1722G2250G49676You have condemned and have murdered the righteous (innocent man), [while] he offers no resistance to you.G2613G5407G1342G498G3756G498G5213
Exhortation
7So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains.G3114G3767G80G2193G3952G2962G2400G1092G1551G5093G2590G1093G3114G1909G846G2193G302G2983G4406G2532G3797G52058So you also must be patient. Establish your hearts [strengthen and confirm them in the final certainty], for the coming of the Lord is very near.G3114G5210G2532G3114G4741G5216G2588G3754G3952G2962G14489Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you [yourselves] may not be judged. Look! The Judge is [already] standing at the very door.G4727G3361G2596G240G80G3363G2632G2400G2923G2476G4253G237410[As] an example of suffering and ill-treatment together with patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord [as His messengers].G2983G3450G80G4396G3739G2980G3686G2962G5262G2552G2532G311511You know how we call those blessed (happy) who were steadfast [who endured]. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the Lord's [purpose and how He richly blessed him in the] end, inasmuch as the Lord is full of pity {and} compassion {and} tenderness and mercy.G2400G3106G5278G191G5281G2492G2532G1492G5056G2962G3754G2962G2076G4184G2532G362912But above all [things], my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath; but let your yes be [a simple] yes, and your no be [a simple] no, so that you may not sin {and} fall under condemnation.G1161G4253G3956G3450G80G3660G3361G3383G3772G3383G1093G3383G5100G243G3727G1161G2277G5216G3483G2277G3483G2532G3756G3756G3363G4098G1519G527213Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? He should pray. Is anyone glad at heart? He should sing praise [to God].G2553G5100G1722G5213G2553G4336G2114G5100G2114G556714Is anyone among you sick? He should call in the church elders (the spiritual guides). And they should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord's name.G770G5100G770G1722G5213G4341G4245G1577G2532G4336G1909G846G218G846G1637G1722G3686G296215And the prayer [that is] of faith will save him who is sick, and the Lord will restore him; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.G2532G2171G4102G4982G2577G2532G2962G1453G846G1453G2579G5600G4160G266G863G84616Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed {and} restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].G1843G3900G240G2532G2172G240G5228G240G3704G2390G1754G1162G1342G2480G418317Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. [I Kings 17:1.]G2243G2258G444G3663G2254G2532G4336G4335G1026G3361G1026G2532G1026G3756G1909G1093G5140G1763G2532G1803G337618And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual]. [I Kings 18:42-45.]G2532G4336G3825G2532G3772G1325G5205G2532G1093G985G846G259019[My] brethren, if anyone among you strays from the Truth {and} falls into error and another [person] brings him back [to God],G80G1437G5100G1722G5213G4105G575G225G2532G5100G1994G84620Let the [latter] one be sure that whoever turns a sinner from his evil course will save [that one's] soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins [procure the pardon of the many sins committed by the convert].G1097G846G1097G3754G1994G268G1537G4106G846G3598G4982G5590G1537G2288G2532G2572G4128G266