James 5:1
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Study Note
Study Note
The prophetic woe against the rich — 'Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you' — is the most severe social critique in the New Testament outside of the Synoptic Gospels. The indictment is not of wealth per se but of three specific sins: hoarding riches in the last days (verse 3), defrauding laborers of wages (verse 4), and living in self-indulgent luxury while condemning the righteous (verse 5-6). The prophetic tradition of Amos 8:4-6, Micah 2:1-2, and Isaiah 5:8 provides the Old Testament background, indicating that James stands within the stream of prophetic social ethics rather than introducing a novel radicalism. The lament form — borrowed from the prophetic literature — creates an urgency appropriate to the eschatological context ('the last days,' verse 3).
Other Translations
Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
Go, now, ye rich! weep, howling over your miseries that are coming upon <FI>you<Fi> ;
Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you.
Cross References
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the …
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then …
And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and …
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which …
He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, …
They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.