English Standard Version
James 5:4
4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
James 5:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
- New International Version (NIV)Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
- New Living Translation (NLT)For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Context of James 5:4
2Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Read all of James 5James 5:4 word by word
ἰδοὺ ὁ μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν τῶν ἀμησάντων τὰς χώρας ὑμῶν ὁ ἀπεστερημένος ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν κράζει καὶ αἱ βοαὶ τῶν θερισάντων εἰς τὰ ὦτα κυρίου σαβαὼθ εἰσεληλύθασιν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Beholdὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
- the hireμισθόςmisthos · wageG3408
- of the labourersἐργάτηςergatēs · workerG2040
- reaped downἀμάωamaō · to mowG270
- yourσύsu · youG4771
- fieldsχώραchōra · countryG5561
- which is ofἀπόapo · away fromG575
- kept back by fraudἀποστερέωapostereō · to defraudG650
- criethκράζωkrazō · to cryG2896
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- the criesβοήboē · outcryG995
- which have reapedθερίζωtheridō · to reapG2325
- are enteredεἰσέρχομαιeiserchomai · to enterG1525
- intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
- the earsοὖςous · earG3775
- of the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
- of sabaothσαβαώθsabaōth · hostsG4519
Cross-references for James 5:4
- Leviticus 19:13"You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
- Deuteronomy 24:14"You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.
- Job 24:10They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves;
- Job 31:38"If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together,
- Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
- Jeremiah 22:13"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,
- Habakkuk 2:11For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond.
- Malachi 3:5"Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
- Colossians 4:1Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
- Genesis 4:10And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
- Exodus 2:23During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
- Exodus 3:9And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
- Exodus 22:22You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.
- Deuteronomy 24:15You 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.
- Job 34:28so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, and he heard the cry of the afflicted—
- Psalms 9:12For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
Commentaries on James 5:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The hire of the laborers - The law, Leviticus 19:13, had ordered: The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning, every day's labor being paid for as soon as ended. This is more clearly stated in another law, Deuteronomy 24:15; : At his day thou shalt give him his hire; neither shall the sun go down upon it; - lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee. And that God particularly resented this…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields - In the previous verses the form of the sin which the apostle specified was that they had hoarded their property. He now states another form of their guilt, that, while doing this, they had withheld what was due from the very laborers who had cultivated their fields, and to whose labor they were indebted for what they had. The phrase “who have reaped down your fields,” is used to denote…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4These wealthy individuals were landowners who exploited their workers (5:1). They are like those in 2:6 who oppressed and took Christians to court. These rich people exploited the day laborers who harvested their fields. cries … have reached the ears of the Lord: God hears the prayers of the oppressed (see Deuteronomy 24:14–15). Even while the laborers are still suffering, the Lord has heard them (see Exodus 3:7). the Lord of Hosts (1 Samuel 17:45; Psalm…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Behold--calling attention to their coming doom as no vain threat. labourers--literally "workmen." of you kept back--So English Version rightly. Not as Alford, "crieth out from you." The "keeping back of the hire" was, on the part OF the rich, virtually an act of "fraud," because the poor laborers were not immediately paid. The phrase is therefore not, "kept back by you," but "of you"; the latter implying virtual, rather than overt, fraud. James refers…Read the comment
Topics related to James 5:4
In the dictionaries
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
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