Read the Bible

¹ As for you that are rich: weep, and lament the miserys that are falling upon you. ² your wealth is wasted, your wardrobe is devour'd by the worm, ³ and your gold and silver by rust: that rust shall convict you: that rust shall corrode your flesh like a caustic, which you have treasur'd up against the last days. ⁴ hark! what a noise there is of hire, of which you cheated the labourers, who gather'd in your harvest! the cries of the reapers have reach'd even the Lord of the celestial militia. ⁵ you have liv'd on the earth in voluptuousness and luxury: you have indulg'd your selves as in a day of sacrifice: ⁶ you have condemn'd the just, you have put him to death, though he did not oppose you. ⁷ As for you, my brethren, bear your sufferings with constancy, till the advent of the Lord. the farmer, from the prospect of a golden crop, patiently expects the showers of the spring and the autumn. ⁸ be you equally patient, and exercise your fortitude, for the advent of the Lord is nigh. ⁹ don't repine, my brethren, against one another, for fear you should be condemn'd. behold, the judge is at the gate. ¹⁰ let the prophets, my brethren, who were commission'd by the Lord, be your examples; suffer persecution with constancy like them. ¹¹ we pronounce those happy, who have so endur'd. you have heard of the constancy of Job, you know with what success he was crown'd by the Lord, who is all mercy and compassion.

¹² Above all things, my brethren, don't swear, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor use any other oath; but let your affirmation, or negation, be sincere, lest you fall under condemnation. ¹³ Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. is his mind serene? let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is any of you sick? let him send for the pastors of the church, to pray for him, and after giving him the unction, in the name of the Lord, ¹⁵ the prayer that proceeds from faith, shall save the sick; the Lord will raise him up, and his sins that may have been the occasion, shall be forgiven. ¹⁶ confess then to one another the offences you have committed, and pray for one another, that you may be healed; the fervent prayer of a virtuous man has great influence. ¹⁷ Elias was only a man, as we are; however, having ardently prayed, that it might not rain, it did not rain in that country for three years and a half: ¹⁸ then be pray'd again: the heavens sent its showers, and the earth push'd out its fruit. ¹⁹ My brethren, when any of you deviates from the truth, whoever sets him right, may be assured, ²⁰ that the retrieving of a sinner from his erroneous habits, is saving a soul from ruin, and cancels a multitude of sins.