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James

About this book
Chapter 5

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. 7 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. 8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged.⁠ See, the judge stands before the gates! 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name. 11 Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 12 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.⁠ 13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.⁠ 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up—and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 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.⁠ 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!⁠ 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest. 19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,⁠ 20 he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path will save that person’s soul from death⁠ and will cover a multitude of sins.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 13:4 and James 5:16

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In 1 Enoch, the fallen Watchers ask Enoch to intercede for them, believing his righteousness might gain them mercy, though their request fails. James echoes this, teaching that a righteous person's prayer for another is effective.

Passages

1 Enoch 13:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
3 Then I went and spoke to them all together, and they were all afraid, and fear and trembling seized them. 4 They begged me to write a petition for them so that they might find forgiveness, and to read their petition in the presence of the Lord of heaven. 5 For from then on they could not speak or lift up their eyes to heaven because of the shame of the sins for which they had been condemned.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

James 5:16

New Testament
15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up—and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 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. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in James

References

"... The watchers make a twofold request of Enoch: that he write up their petition, and that he offer it on behalf of them. The first of these requests is related to his role as scribe. In the present context, his scribal function is to write a copy of the watchers’ petition and to recite it. A little later, he will make a copy of the heavenly response to this petition and read it to the watchers. The watchers’ second request, that he pray the petition, is based on their own unworthiness to approach God (verse 5). It may also presume the theory that the prayer of a righteous man is especially effective. Compare Proverbs 15:29: 3 Maccabees 6:1-21; 2 Baruch 2:2; James 5:16-18 ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 237.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Enoch 13:4 and James 5:16

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