New King James Version
James 5:4
4Indeed 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.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- 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 are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 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. 5You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned, you have murdered the just; 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 cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.
- Deuteronomy 24:14“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates.
- Job 24:10They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
- Job 31:38“If my land cries out against me, And its furrows weep together;
- Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
- Jeremiah 22:13“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness And his chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work,
- Habakkuk 2:11For the stone will cry out from the wall, And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
- Malachi 3:5And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.
- Colossians 4:1Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
- Genesis 4:10And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- Exodus 2:23Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
- Exodus 3:9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
- Exodus 22:22“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.
- Deuteronomy 24:15Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.
- Job 34:28So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted.
- Psalms 9:12When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries