The rich people who oppress you should weep because they will suffer much. God will punish them because they have unjustly caused others to suffer.

1Now I have something to say to the rich people who do not believe in Christ and who ◄oppress you/cause you to suffer►. Listen to me, you rich people! You should weep and wail loudly [DOU] because you will experience terrible troubles [PRS]!

2Your wealth of various kinds is worthless [MET], as though it were rotted. Your fine clothes are worthless [MET], as though termites had ruined them.

3Your gold and silver are worthless [MET], as though they were corroded. When God judges you, this worthless wealth [MTY] of yours will be evidence [PRS] that you are guilty of being greedy, and as rust and fire destroy [MET, SYN] things, God will severely punish you [SIM]. You have ◄in vain/uselessly► ◄stored up/accumulated► wealth at a time when God is about to judge you [MTY].

4Think about what you have done. You have not paid wages to the workmen who have harvested your fields for you, with the result that [PRS] those reapers are crying out to God for him to help them. And God, the all-powerful Lord, has heard their loud cries.

5You have lived luxuriously, just to have pleasure here on earth. Just like cattle fatten themselves, not realizing that they will be slaughtered [MET], you have lived just for pleasure [MTY], not realizing that God will severely punish you.

6You have arranged for others/judges to condemn innocent people. You have arranged for others to kill some people. And even though those people had not done anything wrong, they were not able to defend themselves against you. My fellow believers, that is what I say to the rich people ◄who oppress you/cause you to suffer►.

So wait patiently for the Lord Jesus Christ to return and to judge all people fairly. Do not complain about each other, lest Jesus judge you when he returns. From the examples of the prophets and Job, we know that God blesses and rewards those who patiently endure suffering.

7So, my fellow believers, although rich people cause you to suffer, be patient until the Lord Jesus Christ comes back. Remember that when farmers plant a field, they wait for their valuable crops to grow. They must wait patiently for the rain that comes at the planting season and for more rain that comes just before the harvest season. They wait for the crops to grow and mature before they can harvest them.

8Similarly, you also should wait patiently and trust the Lord Jesus firmly, because he is coming back soon and will judge all people fairly.

9My fellow believers, do not complain about each other, in order that you will not be condemned and punished by the Lord Jesus {in order that the Lord Jesus will not condemn you}. It is he who will judge us, and he is ready to appear.

10My fellow believers, as an example of how to be patient, ◄consider/think about► the prophets whom the Lord God sent long ago to speak his messages [MTY]. Although people caused the prophets to suffer a lot, they endured it patiently.

11And we know that God ◄approves of/is pleased with► those who endure suffering for him. You have also heard about Job. You know that although he suffered much, the Lord God finally caused things to turn out well for Job because he endured that suffering (OR, because he continued to trust God). And from that we know that the Lord is very compassionate and kind.

Do not say, “If I am lying, may God punish me.” Instead, always tell the truth, so that God will not condemn you.

12Also, my fellow believers, I want to say something important about how you talk. If you say that you will do something, do not say, “If I do not do it, may God in heaven [MTY] punish me.” Do not even say, “If I do not do it, may someone here on earth [MTY] punish me.” Do not say anything like that. Instead, if you say “Yes,” then do what you said that you would do. If you say “No,” then do not do it. Otherwise, God will condemn you.

Whatever your circumstances are, pray, trusting in God, and he will certainly help you, both physically and spiritually. So confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, because God answers prayer.

13Whoever among you is experiencing trouble [RHQ] should pray that God would help him. Whoever is cheerful/happy [RHQ] should sing songs of praise to God.

14Whoever among you is sick [RHQ] should call the leaders of the congregation to come to pray for him. They should put olive oil on him and, with the Lord’s authority [MTY] (OR, calling on the Lord to heal him), pray.

15And if they truly trust in the Lord when they pray [PRS], the sick person will be healed. The Lord will heal him. And if that person has sinned ◄in a way that caused him to be/and because of that he became► sick, if he ◄confesses what he did/says that he did what is wrong►, he will be forgiven {the Lord will forgive him}.

16So, because the Lord is able to heal the sick and to forgive sins, tell each other the sinful things that you have done, and pray for each other in order that you may be healed {that God may heal you} physically and spiritually. If righteous people pray and ask fervently for God to do something, God will certainly do it in a powerful way.

17Although the prophet Elijah was ◄an ordinary person/just a human being► like us, he earnestly prayed that it would not rain. As a result, it did not rain for three and a half years.

18Then he prayed again, asking God to send rain, and as a result God [MTY] sent rain, and plants grew and produced crops again.

If anyone turns away from God’s true message, you believers should urge him to once again obey God so that God will forgive his many sins.

19My fellow believers, if anyone of you stops obeying the true message from God, someone from among you should persuade that person to once again do what God has told us to do. If he stops doing what is wrong,

20the one who persuaded him should realize that because he has enabled the person who was sinning to stop doing what is wrong, God will save that person from ◄spiritual death/being separated from him forever►, and will forgive his many sins.