• James 5:4
    The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures

    • 4 ἰδοὺ Look! ὁ The μισθὸς wages τῶν of the ἐργατῶν workers τῶν the (ones) ἀμησάντων having reaped τὰς the χώρας land areas ὑμῶν of YOU ὁ the [wages] ἀφυστερημένος having been made behind from ἀφ’ from ὑμῶν YOU κράζει, is crying out, καὶ and αἱ the βοαὶ loud cries τῶν of the (ones) θερισάντων having harvested εἰς into τὰ the ὦτα ears Κυρίου of Lord Σαβαὼθ Sabaoth εἰσελήλυθαν· they have entered;

  • James 5:4
    The Bible in Living English

    • 4* You have been hoarding in the last days; here the delayed pay of the laborers who reaped your acres is crying out, and the clamor of the harvesters has entered the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

  • James 5:4
    American Standard Version

    • 4 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.

  • James 5:4
    The Emphasized Bible

    • 4 Lo the wage of the workers who have cut down your fields—That which hath been kept back by you is crying out; And the outcries of them who reaped Into the ears of the Lord of hosts have entered:

  • James 5:4
    King James Version

    • 4 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.

  • James Study Notes—Chapter 5
    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)

    • 5:4

      The wages you have withheld . . . keep crying out: The Mosaic Law required that workers be paid at the end of each workday. (Le 19:13; De 24:14, 15; Mal 3:5) Here the unjustly withheld wages are personified​—James describes those wages as “crying out” so that Jehovah God would notice the injustice and take action against those responsible for it. In a similar way, Jehovah described faithful Abel’s shed blood as “crying out” to Jehovah for justice. (Ge 4:9-11) James thus assures his readers that God sees all that is happening and will act in behalf of those whom the rich are defrauding.

      have reached the ears of Jehovah of armies: James here emphasizes that Jehovah not only listens to “the cries for help” from oppressed workers but also responds by using his power in behalf of his servants. James reminds his readers that God has at his command vast armies of spirit creatures. (Ps 103:20, 21; 148:1, 2; Isa 1:24) The expression “Jehovah of armies” has its background in the Hebrew Scriptures, where it appears (with some variations) 283 times. In the Christian Greek Scriptures, it appears twice, here and at Ro 9:29. James is apparently alluding to Isa 5:9 according to the Septuagint, the only place where the Greek expression here rendered “the ears of Jehovah of armies” occurs in that translation. According to the wording in the Septuagint, the prophet shows that the unjust treatment of oppressed Israelites had “reached [or, “been heard in”] the ears of” Jehovah of armies.​—See study notes on Ro 9:29; for the use of the divine name here at Jas 5:4, see App. C3; Jas 5:4.