James 5:16

James 5:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
• New International Version (NIV)Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Context of James 5:16

14Is anyone ill? They should ask the leaders of the church to come and to pray for them. The leaders should put some olive oil on the sick person. They should pray for him with the authority of the Lord Jesus. 15If they pray in that way and they trust that God will answer them, the sick person will become well again. The Lord will cause him to become well. And God will forgive him if he has done any wrong things. So you should tell each other about any wrong things that you have done. Then you will be able to pray for each other, so that God makes you well again. When a good person prays to God, God does powerful things. 17For example, God's prophet Elijah was an ordinary person, as we are. He prayed to God that it would not rain. He continued to pray and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18After that time, he prayed to God to send rain again. After that, rain came down from the sky. The seeds that were in the ground began to grow and give food for people to eat.

James 5:16 word by word

ἐξομολογεῖσθε οὖν ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων, ὅπως ἰαθῆτε· πολὺ ἰσχύει δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Confessἐξομολογέομαιexomologeō · to agreeG1843
• faultsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• faultsπαράπτωμαparaptōma · trespassG3900
• one to anotherἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• prayεὔχομαιeuchomai · to pray/wish forG2172
• forὑπέρhuper · above/forG5228
• thatὅπωςhopōs · thatG3704
• ye may be healedἰάομαιiaomai · to healG2390
• The effectual ferventἐνεργέωenergeō · be activeG1754
• prayerδέησιςdeēsis · petitionG1162
• of a righteous manδίκαιοςdikaios · justG1342
• availethἰσχύωischuō · be strongG2480
• muchπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183

Cross-references for James 5:16

• Genesis 41:9Then the king's cupbearer said to Pharaoh, ‘Now I remember that I have done a wrong thing!
• 2 Samuel 19:19He said to the king, ‘Please forgive me for my sin. Do not punish me. I insulted you, my lord, on the day when you left Jerusalem. Please forget about what I did.
• Matthew 3:6The people told God about all the wrong things that they had done. Then John baptized them in the Jordan River.
• Matthew 18:15Jesus said, ‘If your Christian friend has done something wrong against you, you must go and speak to him. When you are alone with him, tell him what he has done that is wrong. He may agree with what you say. If he does, then you can call him your friend again.
• Luke 7:3The officer heard about Jesus, so he sent some important Jews to speak to him. ‘Please go to Jesus,’ he said to them. ‘I would like him to make my servant well. Ask him if he would come to do that.’
• Acts 19:18Many of the believers agreed that they had done wicked things. They told other believers about this.
• Colossians 1:9Because of all that, we have not stopped praying for you, ever since the day that we heard about you. We ask God that his Spirit will make you truly wise. He will help you to know clearly what he wants you to do. You will understand his true message.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:17Pray at all times.
• Hebrews 13:18Pray to God for us. We are sure in our minds that we have done nothing wrong. We always want to do only what is right.
• Genesis 20:17Then Abraham prayed to God. As a result, God made Abimelech become well again. He also made Abimelech's wife and his female slaves become well, so that they could have children again.
• 2 Chronicles 30:20The Lord accepted Hezekiah's prayer. He did not punish those people.
• Luke 9:6Then the apostles started out. They went to visit all the villages. In every place they told people the good news about Jesus and they made sick people well.
• Acts 10:38You know that God chose Jesus to do special work for him. He gave Jesus his Holy Spirit and helped him to do powerful things. Jesus came from the town of Nazareth. He travelled to many places and he did good things. The Devil had power over some people. But Jesus caused all those people to become well again. He could do those powerful things because God was with him.
• Genesis 18:23Then Abraham went near to the Lord and he asked, ‘Will you destroy the good people as well as the bad people?
• Genesis 19:29When God destroyed the cities of the valley, he saved Lot from that punishment. God remembered what Abraham had asked him. He took Lot away from the cities where he had lived. Then God destroyed those cities.
• Genesis 20:7You must now give her back to her husband. He is a prophet and he will pray for you. Because of that, you will not die. But if you do not give her back, you and all your people will surely die.’

Commentaries on James 5:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Confess your faults one to another - This is a good general direction to Christians who endeavor to maintain among themselves the communion of saints. This social confession tends much to humble the soul, and to make it watchful. We naturally wish that our friends in general, and our religious friends in particular, should think well of us; and when we confess to them offenses which, without this confession, they could never have known, we feel humbled…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Confess your faults one to another - This seems primarily to refer to those who were sick, since it is added, “that ye may be healed.” The fair interpretation is, that it might be supposed that such confession would contribute to a restoration to health. The case supposed all along here (see James 5:15) is, that the sickness referred to had been brought upon the patient for his sins, apparently as a punishment for some particular transgressions. Compare…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-18Verses 12-18 The sin of swearing is condemned; but how many make light of common profane swearing! Such swearing expressly throws contempt upon God's name and authority. This sin brings neither gain, nor pleasure, nor reputation, but is showing enmity to God without occasion and without advantage It shows a man to be an enemy to God, however he pretends to call himself by his name, or sometimes joins in acts of worship. But the Lord will not hold him…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. The oldest authorities read, "Confess, THEREFORE," &c. Not only in the particular case of sickness, but universally confess. faults--your falls and offenses, in relation to one another. The word is not the same as sins. Mt 5:23, 24; Lu 17:4, illustrate the precept here. one to another--not to the priest, as Rome insists. The Church of England recommends in certain cases. Rome compels confession in all cases. Confession is desirable in the case of (1)…Read the comment

Topics related to James 5:16

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Commandments
• Communion
• Fellowship
• Intercession
• Prayer
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• Confession
• Convert
• Effectual prayer
• Grudge
• Howl
• Nourish
• Pitiful
• Prayer
• Tender
• Wanton

Commentaries on James 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings