Warning to the Rich

James 5

1 Come now, x you rich, weep and howl for the y miseries that are coming upon you. 2 z Your riches have rotted and z your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. a You have laid up treasure b in the last days. 4 Behold, c the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and d the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of e the Lord of hosts. 5 f You have lived on the earth in luxury and g in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in h a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and i murdered j the righteous person. He does not resist you.

  1. Cross References
    Luke 6:24
    But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
    Proverbs 11:28
    Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
    Amos 6:1
    Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!
    1 Timothy 6:9
    But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
  2. Cross References
    Romans 3:16
    In their paths are ruin and misery.
  3. Cross References
    Job 13:28
    Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
    Isaiah 50:9
    Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
    Matthew 6:19 - 20
    Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
  4. Cross References
    Job 13:28
    Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
    Isaiah 50:9
    Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
    Matthew 6:19 - 20
    Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
  5. Cross References
    Matthew 6:19
    Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
    Luke 12:21
    So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
    Romans 2:5
    But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.
  6. Cross References
    James 5:8 - 9
    You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
  7. Cross References
    Job 24:10
    They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves.
    Leviticus 19:13
    You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 24:15
    You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.
  9. Cross References
    Romans 9:29
    And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.
  10. Cross References
    Job 21:13
    They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.
    Luke 16:19
    There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
    2 Peter 2:13
    Suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.
  11. Cross References
    1 Timothy 5:6
    But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:3
    But you, O Lord, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
  13. Cross References
    James 4:2
    You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
  14. Cross References
    Acts 3:14
    But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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