Then He said to His disciples, “Certainly there is plenty to harvest but there are [too] few people to do the work. You should pray to the Lord of the harvest to send [more] workers out into the field to gather His crop.”
James 5:4 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition) Look, the wages you have fraudulently refused to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out [against you]. And the cries of these harvest hands have reached the ears of the Lord of [heavenly] armies [i.e., Almighty God]. More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 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. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition [But] look! [Here are] the wages that you have withheld by fraud from the laborers who have reaped your fields, crying out [for vengeance]; and the cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. American Standard Version (1901) Behold, 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. Common English Bible Listen! Hear the cries of the wages of your field hands. These are the wages you stole from those who harvested your fields. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of heavenly forces. Catholic Public Domain Version Consider the pay of the workers who reaped your fields: it has been misappropriated by you; it cries out. And their cry has entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Behold 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. |
Then He said to His disciples, “Certainly there is plenty to harvest but there are [too] few people to do the work. You should pray to the Lord of the harvest to send [more] workers out into the field to gather His crop.”
So, will God not grant justice to His elect [i.e., His people] who call out to Him [i.e., in prayer] day and night? Will He be slow in helping them?
And, as Isaiah had said in a previous passage [1:9], “If the Lord of the [heavenly] armies [i.e., Almighty God] had not left us some descendants [i.e., a small minority], we would have become like Sodom; He would have made us like Gomorrah [i.e., destroyed].”
You masters should treat your slaves in a just and fair way, knowing that you also have a Master [who] is in heaven.