“Now there was a certain rich man who was dressed in purple [clothing] and soft linen [garments] and who lived every day in pleasure and luxury.
James 5:5 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition) You people have basked in luxury [here] on earth and lived lives devoted to pleasure. You have fattened yourselves [as sacrificial oxen] for the day of slaughter. More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition [Here] on earth you have abandoned yourselves to soft (prodigal) living and to [the pleasures of] self-indulgence and self-gratification. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. American Standard Version (1901) Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. Common English Bible You have lived a self-satisfying life on this earth, a life of luxury. You have stuffed your hearts in preparation for the day of slaughter. Catholic Public Domain Version You have feasted upon the earth, and you have nourished your hearts with luxuries, unto the day of slaughter. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version You have feasted upon earth: and in riotousness you have nourished your hearts, in the day of slaughter. |
“Now there was a certain rich man who was dressed in purple [clothing] and soft linen [garments] and who lived every day in pleasure and luxury.
But Abraham said [to him], ‘Son, remember how you enjoyed good things when you were alive [on earth] and how Lazarus had to put up with bad things? But now here [i.e., in the unseen place of departed spirits] he is being comforted and you are in agony.
We should be living properly, as in the daytime [i.e., when people normally behave themselves], not engaging in orgies and drunkenness; not practicing sexual immorality and indecent vices; not quarrelsome and jealous.
But the widow who devotes herself to unrestrained pleasure is [spiritually] dead, even while still living.
treacherous [i.e., betrayers], reckless, conceited, [and] lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
They suffer wrong themselves for doing wrong to other people. They consider it [especially] pleasurable to carry on their drunken reveling, [even] during the daytime. They become blots and blemishes [i.e., like spoiled food] in your fellowship meal, as they revel in their deceitful behavior.
These people are like rotten spots [contaminating the food] at your love feasts, while they gorge themselves without fear [i.e., unashamed of their selfish indulgence]. [Note: This passage may mean “like selfish shepherds, looking out only for themselves,” even eating the grain set out for the animals]. They are like clouds that blow over without producing rain; [they are like] trees in the fall that do not produce any fruit and have been uprooted, [thus] being dead twice [i.e., fruitless and rootless].
Cause her as much torment and sorrow as she gave herself honor and luxurious living. For she is saying to herself, ‘I sit as a queen; I am not a widow and I will never suffer grief.’