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James 5:13-16

Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.

World English Bible · Public Domain
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Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.

    Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

    and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

    Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    Yf eny of you be evyll vexed let him praye. Yf eny of you be mery let him singe Psalmes.

    Yf eny be defeated amonge you let him call for the elders of the congregacion and let the praye over him and anoynte him with oyle in the name of the lorde:

    and the prayer of fayth shall save the sicke and the lorde shall rayse him vp: and yf he have committed synnes they shalbe forgeuen him.

    knowledge youre fautes one to another: and praye one for another that ye maye be healed. The prayer of a ryghteous man avayleth moche yf it be fervet.

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  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merie? Let him sing.

    Is any sicke among you? Let him call for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray for him, and anoynt him with oyle in the Name of the Lord.

    And the prayer of faith shall saue the sicke, and the Lord shall raise him vp: and if he haue committed sinnes, they shalbe forgiuen him.

    Acknowledge your faultes one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed: for the prayer of a righteous man auaileth much, if it be feruent.

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Cross-references (118)

  • Jeremiah 29:12-13 (v16) You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me…
  • Proverbs 15:29 (v16) Yahweh is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
  • Matthew 21:22 (v16) All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
  • Psalms 34:15 (v16) Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry.
  • John 9:31 (v16) We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.
Show all 100 cross-references
  • Jeremiah 33:3 (v16) ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’
  • Psalms 145:18-19 (v16) Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also…
  • 1 Peter 2:24 (v16) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.
  • Matthew 7:7-11 (v16) “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks…
  • 1 John 3:22 (v16) so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
  • Daniel 9:20-22 (v16) While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my…
  • Proverbs 15:8 (v16) The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
  • Psalms 50:15 (v13) Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
  • Acts 19:18 (v16) Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.
  • Luke 11:11-13 (v16) “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a…
  • Psalms 10:17-18 (v16) Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, to judge the fatherless and…
  • 1 John 5:14-16 (v15) This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he…
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (v16) Pray without ceasing.
  • James 5:13 (v15) Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.
  • Genesis 20:17 (v16) Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.
  • Job 42:8 (v16) Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and…
  • Proverbs 28:9 (v16) He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
  • 2 Chronicles 30:20 (v16) Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
  • James 5:16 (v15) Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is…
  • Numbers 11:2 (v16) The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated.
  • Matthew 3:6 (v16) They were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
  • Genesis 18:23-32 (v16) Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you…
  • Hebrews 12:13 (v16) and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
  • 2 Kings 20:2-5 (v16) Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh, saying, “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth…
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:25 (v16) Brothers, pray for us.
  • Matthew 21:21-22 (v15) Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith, and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree,…
  • 2 Kings 4:33-35 (v16) He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh. He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his…
  • Luke 18:1-8 (v16) He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up, saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear…
  • Acts 12:5-11 (v16) Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him. The same night when Herod was about to…
  • Romans 3:10 (v16) As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one.
  • James 1:6 (v15) But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
  • Exodus 9:28-29 (v16) Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” Moses said to…
  • Matthew 17:20 (v15) He said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this…
  • Acts 10:38 (v16) even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were…
  • Hebrews 11:7 (v16) By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which…
  • Genesis 20:7 (v16) Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for…
  • 1 Kings 13:6 (v16) The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.”…
  • 2 Chronicles 14:11-12 (v16) Asa cried to Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help…
  • Mark 6:13 (v14) They cast out many demons, and anointed many with oil who were sick, and healed them.
  • Acts 4:24-31 (v16) When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the…
  • Romans 5:19 (v16) For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
  • Hebrews 11:4 (v16) By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God…
  • Hebrews 13:18 (v16) Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
  • Genesis 32:28 (v16) He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
  • Exodus 32:10-14 (v16) Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”…
  • Numbers 14:13-20 (v16) Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. They will tell it to…
  • Numbers 21:7-9 (v16) The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take…
  • Joshua 10:12 (v16) Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. He said in the sight of Israel,…
  • 1 Kings 17:18-24 (v16) She said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son!” He…
  • 2 Kings 19:15-20 (v16) Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone,…
  • Jeremiah 15:1 (v16) Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not turn toward this people. Cast them out of my sight,…
  • Daniel 2:18-23 (v16) that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest…
  • Jonah 2:2 (v13) He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.
  • Matthew 18:15-17 (v16) “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your…
  • Luke 7:3-4 (v16) When he heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and save his servant. When they came to Jesus, they begged…
  • Genesis 19:29 (v16) When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the…
  • Exodus 9:33 (v16) Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured…
  • Exodus 17:11 (v16) When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
  • Deuteronomy 9:18-20 (v16) I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which…
  • 2 Chronicles 32:20-22 (v16) Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven. Yahweh sent an angel, who cut off…
  • Mark 2:5-11 (v15) Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and…
  • Ephesians 5:19 (v13) speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (v16) May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our…
  • 1 Samuel 12:18 (v16) So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.
  • Hosea 12:3-4 (v16) In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with God. Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed;…
  • Genesis 41:9-10 (v16) Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today. Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody…
  • 2 Samuel 19:19 (v16) He said to the king, “Don’t let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the…
  • Acts 16:24-25 (v13) who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and…
  • Colossians 1:9 (v16) For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the…
  • Luke 9:6 (v16) They departed and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News and healing everywhere.
  • Mark 16:17-18 (v15) These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up…
  • Isaiah 33:24 (v15) The inhabitant won’t say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.
  • Acts 28:8 (v14) The father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery. Paul entered in to him, prayed, and laying his hands on him, healed him.
  • Hebrews 5:7 (v13) He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from…
  • Revelation 5:9-14 (v13) They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your…
  • Revelation 19:1-6 (v13) After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory…
  • Hosea 6:1 (v13) “Come! Let’s return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
  • Jonah 2:7 (v13) “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
  • Mark 11:22-24 (v15) Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the…
  • John 5:14 (v15) Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
  • Mark 16:18 (v14) they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will…
  • 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 (v15) For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. But when we…
  • Psalms 118:5 (v13) Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom.
  • Psalms 142:1-3 (v13) I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles. When my…
  • 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (v13) By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, a thorn in the flesh was given to me: a…
  • Colossians 3:16-17 (v13) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,…
  • Job 33:26 (v13) He prays to God, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy. He restores to man his righteousness.
  • Psalms 91:15 (v13) He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
  • Daniel 5:4 (v13) They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
  • Micah 4:5 (v13) Indeed all the nations may walk in the name of their gods; but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever.
  • Matthew 9:2-6 (v15) Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your…
  • Matthew 26:30 (v13) When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
  • Luke 22:44 (v13) Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.
  • Revelation 14:3 (v13) They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one…
  • 1 Chronicles 16:9 (v13) Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Tell of all his marvelous works.

100 distinct cross-references across this passage (118 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (25 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13 Is any among you afflicted? he means that…

13 Is any among you afflicted? he means that there is no time in which God does not invite us to himself. For afflictions ought to stimulate us to pray; prosperity supplies us with an occasion to praise God. But such is the perverseness of men, that they cannot rejoice without forgetting God, and that when afflicted they are disheartened and driven to despair. We ought, then, to keep within due bounds, so that the joy, which usually makes us to forget God, may induce us to set forth the goodness of God, and that our sorrow may teach us to pray. For he has set the singing of psalms in opposition to profane and unbridled joy; and thus they express their joy who are led, as they ought to be, by prosperity to God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13–16 He showeth the best remedy against all afflictions, to…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Is any among you afflicted? either troubled or afflicted…
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Here observe, 1. That affliction is a praying season.…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Is any among you afflicted?.... As the people of…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Having anointed him with oil - This single conspicuous…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Verse 13. Is any among you afflicted? let him…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 Jas 5:13. Is any among you afflicted? let him…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Is any among you afflicted? - By sickness, bereavement,…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Is any man sick among you? [3] or in…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv13–16 afflicted--referring to the "suffering affliction" (Jam 5:10).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13–16 1. Consolations for the sad, the merry, the sick;…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13–16. Affliction—Sickness—Confession
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 (13) We now pass on to advice of different…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 Vers. 13-20. Exhortations with respect to practical conduct in…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 Is any among you afflicted?
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 Chapter 26
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13. Is any among you afflicted? Let him not…
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v14 Jas_5:14. Call for.—Summon to him. Elders.—Officers usual in synagogues,…
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv13, 16 13-15. We see clearly from these and other corroborative…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v16 faults Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v16 Admonition to forgiveness and loving intercession:
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 16 Is anyone among you suffering hardship? Let him pray
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14–15 5:14 The elders of the church were responsible for…
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