A Warning to the Rich

James calls the rich to weep and wail because misery is coming upon them. Their treasures, once trusted as durable, are already pictured as rotted, moth-eaten, and corroded. What they stored up as security becomes testimony for the prosecution, consuming them instead of preserving them. The paragraph frames wealth under divine judgment rather than worldly admiration.

C¹ome now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you. ²Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes. ³Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire.

James then specifies the charges: laborers were defrauded, their cries reached the Lord of Hosts, and the rich lived in indulgent luxury while fattening themselves for slaughter. Their prosperity is tied directly to oppression, and their self-indulgence has numbed them to the plight of the righteous whom they have condemned. The paragraph closes the denunciation by exposing the moral violence beneath comfortable abundance.

⁴You have hoarded treasure in the last days. Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. ⁵You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.