James 5
Coverdale Bible of 1535 Par ▾ 

A Warning to the Rich
(Proverbs 23:1–5; 1 Timothy 6:17–19)

1Goo to now ye riche men. Wepe, and howle on yor wretchednes that shal come vpon you. 2Youre riches is corrupte, youre garmetes are motheaten. 3Youre golde & yor siluer are cancred, & the rust of them shalbe a witnes vnto you, & shal eate youre flesshe, as it were fyre. Ye haue heaped treasure togedder in yor last dayes: 4Beholde, the hyre of the labourers which haue reped downe youre feldes (which hyer is of you kept backe by fraude) cryeth: and the cryes of the which haue reped, are entred in to the eares of the LORDE Sabaoth. 5Ye haue liued in pleasure on the earth and in wantannes. Ye haue norysshed youre hertes, as in a daye of slaughter. 6Ye haue codempned and haue killed the iust, and he hath not resisted you.

Patience in Suffering
(Job 1:1–5)

7Be pacient therfore brethren, vnto the comynge of the LORDE. Beholde, the hussbade man wayteth for the precious frute of ye earth, and hath longe pacience there vpon, vntill he receaue the erly and the latter rayne. 8Be ye also pacient therfore, and settle youre hertes, for the commynge of the LORDE draweth nye. 9Grodge not one agaynst another brethren, lest ye be damned. Beholde, the iudge stondeth before the dore. 10Take (my brethren) the prophetes for an ensample of sufferynge aduersitie, and of longe pacience, which spake in the name of the LORDE. 11Beholde we counte them happy which endure. Ye haue hearde of ye paciece of Iob, and haue knowen what ende the LORDE made. For the LORDE is very pitifull and mercifull.

12But aboue all thinges my brethre, sweare not, nether by heaue, nether by earth, nether by eny other othe. Let youre ye be ye, and yor naye naye: lest ye faule in to ypocricy.

The Prayer of Faith

13Yf eny of you be euell vexed, let hi praye. Yf eny of you be mery, let him singe Psalmes. 14Yf eny be deseased amonge you, let him call for the elders of the congregacion, & let the praye ouer him, and anoynte him with oyle in the name of the LORDE: 15and ye prayer of faith shal saue the sicke, and the LORDE shal rayse him vp: and yf he haue comitted synnes, they shalbe forgeuen him. 16Knowlege youre fautes one to another: and praye one for another, that ye maye be healed. The prayer of a righteous man auayleth moche, yf it be feruet. 17Helias was a ma mortall euen as we are, and he prayed in his prayer, that it might not rayne: & it rayned not on the earth by the space of thre yeares and sixe monethes. 18And he prayed agayne, and ye heaue gaue rayne, & ye earth brought forth her frute.

Restoring a Sinner

19Brethren, yf eny of you erre fro the trueth and another conuert him, 20let ye same knowe that he which conuerted the synner from goynge astraye out off his waye, shal saue a soule fro death, and shal hyde the multitude of synnes.


Coverdale Bible of 1535

Section Headings Courtesy Berean Bible

James 4
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