1 Enoch 94:8
6 Woe to those who build unrighteousness and oppression and lay deceit as a foundation; for they shall be suddenly overthrown, and they shall have no peace. 7 Woe to those who build their houses with sin; for from all their foundations shall they be overthrown, and by the sword shall they fall. [And those who acquire gold and silver in judgement suddenly shall perish.] 8 Woe to you, you rich, for you have trusted in your riches, and from your riches shall you depart, because you have not remembered the Most High in the days of your riches. 9 You have committed blasphemy and unrighteousness, and have become ready for the day of slaughter, and the day of darkness and the day of the great judgement. 10 Thus I speak and declare to you: He who created you will overthrow you, and for your fall there shall be no compassion, and your Creator will rejoice at your destruction. 11 And your righteous ones in those days shall be a reproach to the sinners and the godless.
James 5:1
1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 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! 4 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 Heaven’s Armies. 5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.
Notes and References
"... For two reasons, James may also have in mind 1 Enoch 97:1–8. First, 1 Enoch 94–97 is a clear, extended passage of prophetic denunciation of the rich for their abuses of the poor. Second, 1 Enoch 97:4 says that if you misuse money, your heart will condemn you and “this very matter shall be a witness against you, as a record of your evil deeds.” This passage may have been part of James’s inspiration for personifying the rust of the rich’s wealth, which would condemn them at the judgment. In 1 Enoch 97:1–8, the author condemns the rich who “have water available to [them] all the time” and who “eat the best bread” and “drink wine in large bowls.” But, like James 5, it does not condemn the rich simply for possessing wealth. Rather, they are denounced because they “carry out oppression, deceit, and blasphemy,” and because they are powerful people “who coerce the righteous with [their] power.” Love of money causes men to become greedy and oppressive so that they acquire goods to hoard ..."
Scacewater, Todd The Dynamic and Righteous Use of Wealth in James 5:1-6 (pp. 227-242) Journal of Markets & Morality Volume 20, Number 2, 2017