James 5:1

 James 5:1

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

a. NLT: Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: Go, now, ye rich! weep, howling over your miseries that are coming upon you; [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.] 

d. Classic Amplified: Come now, you rich [people], weep aloud and lament over the miseries (the woes) that are surely coming upon you. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Peshitta Eastern Text: O YOU rich men, weep and howl for the miseries which shall come upon you!  [HOLY BIBLE FROM THE ANCIENT EASTERN TEXT.Copyright  Ⓒ 1933 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1961 by A.J. Holmon Co.; Copyright  Ⓒ 1939 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1967  by A.J. Holmon Co.;  Copyright  Ⓒ 1940 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1968 by A.J. Holmon Co.; Copyright  Ⓒ 1957 by A.J. Holmon Co. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.]

1. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.”

a. Go to [Strong: 71 ágō, ag'-o; a primary verb; properly, to lead; by implication, to bring, drive, (reflexively) go, (specially) pass (time), or (figuratively) induce:—be, bring (forth), carry, (let) go, keep, lead away, be open.]

b. now [Strong: 3568 nŷn, noon; a primary particle of present time; "now" (as adverb of date, a transition or emphasis); also as noun or adjective present or immediate:—henceforth, + hereafter, of late, soon, present, this (time).]

c. [Strong: 3588. [hoi] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [hoi] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé  hē, hai.]

d. [ye] rich men [Strong: 4145  ploúsios, ploo'-see-os; from G4149; wealthy; figuratively, abounding with:—rich.]

1). Barnes' Notes on the Bible: Not all rich men, but only that class of them who are specified as unjust and oppressive. There is no sin in merely being rich; where sin exists peculiarly among the rich, it arises from the manner in which wealth is acquired, the spirit which it tends to engender in the heart, and the way in which it is used.

2). Abraham was rich, but it was God who made him rich, and Abraham was a giver and knew it was God who had made him rich. After the slaughter of the kings of Mesopotamia, Abraham turned down riches that were rightfully his, because he did not want the wicked king of Sodom to be able to say that he made Abraham rich (Genesis 14:21-24). The rich man in Luke 16 was also rich, but he completely ignored the poor man laid at his gate and failed to comfort him (Luke 16:19-25).  

d. weep [Strong: 2799 klaíō, klah'-yo; of uncertain affinity; to sob, i.e. wail aloud (whereas G1145 is rather to cry silently):—bewail, weep.]

e. [and] howl [Strong: 3649 ololýzō, ol-ol-odd'-zo; a reduplicated primary verb; to "howl" or "halloo", i.e. shriek:—howl.]

f. for [Strong: 1909 epí, ep-ee'; a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution (with the genitive case), i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative case) at, on, etc.; of direction (with the accusative case) towards, upon, etc.:—about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as (touching), at, beside, × have charge of, (be-, (where-))fore, in (a place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-)on (behalf of), over, (by, for) the space of, through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), with.]

g. your [Strong: 5216 humōn, hoo-mone'; genitive case of G5210; of (from or concerning) you:—ye, you, your (own, -selves).]

h. [Strong: 3588. [tais] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [tais] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé  hē, hai.]

i. miseries [Strong: 5004 talaipōría, tal-ahee-po-ree'-ah; from G5005; wretchedness, i.e. calamity:—misery.]

i. [Strong: 3588. [tais] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [tais] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé  hē, hai.]

[that shall] come [upon you] [Strong: 1904 epérchomai, ep-er'-khom-ahee; from G1909 and G2064; to supervene, i.e. arrive, occur, impend, attack, (figuratively) influence:—come (in, upon).]