James 5:4

Think 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.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

In Context

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].

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.

Read all of James 5

Cross References

Exodus 2:23Many years later the king of Egypt died. The Israeli people in Egypt were still groaning because of the hard work they had to do as slaves. They called out for someone to help them, and God heard them call out [PRS].

Exodus 22:22You must not mistreat any widow or any orphan.

Leviticus 19:13‘Do not cheat anyone or steal from anyone. ‘If you have agreed to pay your workers at the end of the day, do what you have promised; do not keep those wages until the next day.

Job 7:2We are like [SIM] slaves who keep wanting to be in the cool shade, and we are like [SIM] workers who are waiting to be paid.

Job 31:38If it were true that I have stolen land, with the result that it was as though its furrows cried out to accuse me of stealing;

Psalms 9:12He does not forget to punish those who have murdered others; and he will not ignore people who are crying because they are suffering.

Matthew Henry on James 5:2-12

Warnings to the Rich; Motives to Patience under Affliction. ( a. d. 61.) 1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study James 5:4