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James 5

James 5:1 KJV (With Strong’s)

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Go to now, ye richb men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

b

Prov. 11:28• ²⁸He that trusteth in his riches shall fall;{HR}But the righteous shall flourish as a green leaf. (Prov. 11:28)

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Luke 6:24• ²⁴But woe unto you rich! for ye have received your consolation. (Luke 6:24)

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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1-6: Wicked rich men are to fear God's vengeance.

7-11: We ought to be patient in afflictions, after the example of the prophets, and Job;

12: to forbear swearing;

13: to pray in adversity, to sing in prosperity;

14-18: to acknowledge mutually our several faults, to pray one for another;

19-20: and to reduce a straying brother to the truth.

Go.

James 4:13• ¹³Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go to this city here, and spend there a year, and traffic and make gain, (James 4:13)

ye.

James 1:11• ¹¹For the sun arose with its scorching, and withered the grass, and its flower fell away, and the comeliness of its look perished: thus also will the rich one fade in his goings. (James 1:11)

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James 2:6• ⁶But ye dishonoured the poor [man]. Do not the rich oppress you, and they drag you before tribunals? (James 2:6)

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Deut. 8:12‑14• ¹²lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built and inhabited fine houses,
¹³and thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied,
¹⁴then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget Jehovah thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; (Deut. 8:12‑14)

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Deut. 32:15• ¹⁵Then Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked{HR}—Thou art waxen fat,{HR}Thou art grown thick,{HR}And thou art covered with fatness;{HR}—He gave up God who made him,{HR}And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.{HR} (Deut. 32:15)

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Neh. 9:25‑26• ²⁵And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, wells digged, vineyards and olive-gardens, and fruit trees in abundance. And they did eat and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
²⁶But they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets who testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations. (Neh. 9:25‑26)

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Job 20:15‑29• ¹⁵Wealth hath he swallowed, and shall disgorge it:{HR}God will eject it again out of his belly.
¹⁶He shall suck the poison of asps:{HR}The tongue of the viper shall slay him.
¹⁷He shall not gaze on rivulets,{HR}Flowings of streams of honey and butter.
¹⁸What he laboured for, he shall restore, and not swallow.{HR}As the property his exchange, and he rejoiceth not,
¹⁹For he crushed, abandoned, the poor,{HR}Seized a house, and built it not;
²⁰For he knew no rest in his belly;{HR}He shall not escape with his desirable thing,
²¹There is no remnant of his eating.{HR}Therefore his prosperity endureth not.
²²In the fullness of his superfluity he is straitened,{HR}Every hand of a wretch shall be upon him.
²³That it may be to the filling of his belly,{HR}He shall send against him the burning of his anger,{HR}And rain upon him with his food.
²⁴He fleeth from a weapon of iron,{HR}A bow of copper pierceth him through;
²⁵It is drawn, and it cometh out of the body,{HR}And the glittering sword proceedeth out of his gall:{HR}Upon him [are] terrors.
²⁶All darkness [is] hid for his treasures,{HR}A fire not blown consumeth him;{HR}It shall fare ill with what is left in his tent.
²⁷The heavens reveal his iniquity,{HR}And the earth riseth up against him.
²⁸The increase of his house departeth,{HR}Things that ran away in the day of his anger.
²⁹This [is] the portion of the wicked man from God [Elohim],{HR}And the heritage of his sentence from God [El]. (Job 20:15‑29)

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Psa. 17:14• ¹⁴From men, thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of the world:{HR}Their portion is in this life and [with] thy treasure thou fillest their belly;{HR}They are satisfied with sons, and they leave their abundance to their children. (Psa. 17:14)

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Psa. 49:6‑20• ⁶Those who trust in their wealth{HR}And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
⁷In no wise can a man redeem a brother,{HR}He giveth not to God a ransom for him
⁸(But the redemption-price of their soul [is] precious,{HR}And it hath ceased forever),
⁹That he should still live forever{HR}And not see corruption.
¹⁰For he seeth [that] wise men die;{HR}Together the fool and the brutish man perish{HR}And have left to others their wealth.
¹¹Their inward thought [is] their houses [shall be] forever,{HR}Their dwelling-places to generation and generation;{HR}They have called the lands by their names.
¹²But man in honour abideth not;{HR}He hath become like the cattle,{HR}They have been cut off.
¹³This their way [is] folly for them;{HR}Yet those who come after them will take pleasure in their words. Selah.
¹⁴Like sheep they are laid in Sheol;{HR}Death feedeth on them,{HR}And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;{HR}But their form consumeth in the grave,{HR}From their dwelling [consigned] to it.
¹⁵Surely God will redeem my soul from the hand of Sheol,{HR}For he will receive me. Selah.
¹⁶Fear thou not when a man becometh rich,{HR}When the glory of his house increaseth.
¹⁷For he taketh not all this away when he dieth;{HR}His glory shall not descend after him.
¹⁸Though (for) he blesseth his soul in his life,{HR}And men will praise thee when thou doest good to thyself,
¹⁹It shall go to the generation of his fathers;{HR}They shall never see light.
²⁰Man in honour and that understandeth not hath become like the cattle;{HR}That are cut off. (Psa. 49:6‑20)

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Psa. 73:3‑9,18‑20• ³For I was envious at the arrogant (fools),{HR}Seeing the peace of wicked (men).
⁴For [there are] no pangs in their death,{HR}And their strength [is] firm (fat).
⁵In the hardships of men they [are] not,{HR}And with mankind are not smitten.
⁶Therefore hath pride enchained them,{HR}A garment of violence covereth them.
⁷Their eyes stand out with fatness,{HR}The imaginations of their heart overflow.
⁸They mock and speak wickedly of oppression;{HR}From on high they speak.
⁹They set their mouth in the heavens,{HR}And their tongue walketh in the earth.
¹⁸Truly thou settest them in slippery places,{HR}Thou hast caused them to fall into ruins.
¹⁹How are they a desolation in a moment!{HR}They have passed, consumed with terrors.
²⁰As a dream on awaking, so, O Lord (Adonai),{HR}In arising, wilt thou despise their image. (Psa. 73:3‑9,18‑20)

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Prov. 11:4,28• ⁴Wealth profiteth not in the day of wrath;{HR}But righteousness delivereth from death.
²⁸He that trusteth in his riches shall fall;{HR}But the righteous shall flourish as a green leaf. (Prov. 11:4,28)

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Eccl. 5:13‑14• ¹³There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun,{HR}Riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt;
¹⁴And those riches perish by evil adventure;{HR}And if he hath begotten a son,{HR}There is nothing in his hand. (Eccl. 5:13‑14)

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Jer. 9:23• ²³Thus saith Jehovah: Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty glory in his might; let not the rich glory in his riches: (Jer. 9:23)

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Mic. 6:12• ¹²For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. (Mic. 6:12)

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Zeph. 1:18• ¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. (Zeph. 1:18)

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Matt. 19:23‑24• ²³And Jesus said to his disciples, Verily I say unto you, A rich man shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom of the heavens;
²⁴and again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to enter a needle's eye than a rich man into the kingdom of God. (Matt. 19:23‑24)

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Luke 6:24• ²⁴But woe unto you rich! for ye have received your consolation. (Luke 6:24)

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Luke 12:16‑21• ¹⁶And he spoke a parable to them, saying, The land of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully;
¹⁷and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, for I have not [a place] where I shall lay up my fruits?
¹⁸And he said, This will I do; I will take away my granaries, and build greater; and there I will lay up all my produce and my good things;
¹⁹and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid up for many years; repose thyself; eat, drink, be merry.
²⁰But God said unto him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?
²¹Thus is he who layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16‑21)

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Luke 16:19‑25• ¹⁹Now there was a rich man and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, making good cheer in splendour every day.
²⁰And [there was] a poor man named Lazarus, [who] lay at his gateway full of sores,
²¹and desiring to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the table of the rich man; nay, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
²²And it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and was buried.
²³And in Hades lifting up his eyes, being in torments, he seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
²⁴And he, crying out, said, Father Abraham, have compassion on me: and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering in this flame.
²⁵But Abraham said, Child, remember that thou hast fully received thy good things in thy lifetime, likewise Lazarus evil things; but now here he is comforted, and thou art in suffering. (Luke 16:19‑25)

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1 Tim. 6:9‑10• ⁹But those that wish to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many unwise and hurtful lusts, such as sink men into destruction and perdition.
¹⁰For a root of all evils is the love of money, which some eagerly seeking were led astray from the faith and pierced themselves through with many pains. (1 Tim. 6:9‑10)

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Rev. 6:15‑17• ¹⁵And the kings of the earth and the great men and the chiliarchs and the rich and the mighty and every bondman and freeman hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains;
¹⁶and they say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
¹⁷for the great day of his wrath is come; and who is able to stand? (Rev. 6:15‑17)

weep.

James 4:9• ⁹Sorrow, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned unto mourning, and [your] joy unto heaviness. (James 4:9)

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Isa. 13:6• ⁶Howl ye; for the day of Jehovah [is] at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. (Isa. 13:6)

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Isa. 22:12‑13• ¹²And in that day did the Lord Jehovah of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth;
¹³and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. (Isa. 22:12‑13)

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Jer. 4:8• ⁸For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from us. (Jer. 4:8)

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Ezek. 19:2• ²and say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. (Ezek. 19:2)

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Joel 1:5,11,13• ⁵Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
¹¹Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.
¹³Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God. (Joel 1:5,11,13)

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Amos 6:6‑7• ⁶that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
⁷Therefore shall they now go captive, with the first that go captive, and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away. (Amos 6:6‑7)

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Zech. 11:2‑3• ²Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
³There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. (Zech. 11:2‑3)

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Luke 6:25• ²⁵Woe unto you that are filled! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. (Luke 6:25)

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Luke 23:28‑29• ²⁸And Jesus turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep over yourselves and over your children;
²⁹for behold, days are coming in which they will say, Blessed the barren and wombs which bear not and breasts which suckled not. (Luke 23:28‑29)

• The two classes in Israel are distinctly marked here {James 5} in contrast with one another, with the addition of the walk which the Christian ought to pursue when chastised by the Lord. (“James 5” by J.N. Darby)

• Thus the rich in this world are warned that judgment is coming (verse 1); riches are failing (verse 2); men are being destroyed, body and soul; and time is passing (verse 3). (“The Coming of the Lord: James 5” by H. Smith)

• In the opening of the fifth chapter his thoughts turn to the rich Jews, and these, as we have before mentioned, were almost to a man found amongst the unbelieving majority. In the first six verses he has some severe and even scorching things to say about them, and to them. (“James 5” by F.B. Hole)

J. N. Darby Translation

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Go to now, ye rich, weep, howling over your miseries that are coming upon you.

W. Kelly Translation

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Come then, ye rich, weep, howling over your miseries that are coming ona.

WK Translation Notes

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a

The Revisers, by too close adherence to the KJV, lost some of the graphic force. "Weep, howling over your miseries that are coming on." It is the aorist with the present participle, so as to combine instant weeping with habitual howling, because of their sins and the Lord’s speedy judgment. But nobody is blamed for what is so hard to express suitably.