New Living Translation
James 5:16
16Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
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
14Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
Read all of James 5James 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 41:9Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh.
- 2 Samuel 19:19“My lord the king, please forgive me,” he pleaded. “Forget the terrible thing your servant did when you left Jerusalem. May the king put it out of his mind.
- Matthew 3:6And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
- Matthew 18:15“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.
- Luke 7:3When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave.
- Acts 19:18Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.
- Colossians 1:9So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17Never stop praying.
- Hebrews 13:18Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do.
- Genesis 20:17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, so they could have children.
- 2 Chronicles 30:20And the Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people.
- Luke 9:6So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.
- Acts 10:38And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
- Genesis 18:23Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked?
- Genesis 19:29But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.
- Genesis 20:7Now return the woman to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don’t return her to him, you can be sure that you and all your people will 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
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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