Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you.

Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth.

Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. See, the judge stands before the gates!

For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was.

But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.

Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom.

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works.

Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls.

Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you?

You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.

Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure!

So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s return. Think of how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient for it until it receives the early and late rains.

And above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.

But would you like evidence, you empty fellow, that faith without works is useless?

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name.