James 5:4
What does James 5:4 mean?
A plain-English look at James 5:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What James 5:4 means
The unpaid wages of laborers are personified as crying out, and their cries reach “the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth,” the mighty Commander of heaven’s hosts. James condemns fraudulent withholding, a common abuse where day workers depended on daily pay to survive. God hears what the powerful ignore. The verse assures victims that their plight matters to God, and warns oppressors that their secrecy is an illusion before heaven’s throne. The Lord’s title underscores His power to act. Earthly courts may fail, but divine justice does not. Exploitation of workers is not a minor sin—it summons the Judge who leads invincible armies to defend the wronged.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Behold, 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you--doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Behold the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which by fraud has been kept back by you, crieth: and the cry of them hath entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Behold, the wages of your labourers, who have harvested your fields, wrongfully kept back by you, cry, and the cries of those that have reaped are entered into the ears of [the] Lord of sabaoth.
Context
After exposing wealth’s decay, verse 4 names a specific sin: wage theft. This grounds the prior warnings in real-world oppression and explains why divine judgment is fitting. The title “Lord of Sabaoth” amplifies the seriousness, preparing for verse 5’s picture of self‑indulgence and verse 6’s injustice against the righteous. This concrete charge also lays the backdrop for verses 7–11, where believers enduring such wrongs are called to patience, knowing that God, who hears, will act in His time.
v.3Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days.
v.4This passage
v.5Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Habakkuk 2:11
For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
- Romans 9:29
And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah.
- Exodus 3:9
And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
- Genesis 4:10
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
- Job 24:10
So thatthey go about naked without clothing, And being hungry they carry the sheaves.
- Jeremiah 22:13
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that useth his neighbor’s service without wages, and giveth him not his hire;
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