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Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
James 5:13 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.
  • KJV Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
  • NKJV Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
  • NASB Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
  • NLT Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

In suffering, pray; in gladness, sing praise. Every season of life should be brought to God in worship.

Overview

James directs believers to respond to both hardship and joy by turning to God, in prayer when suffering and in praise when cheerful. This frames the whole of life as lived before God, neither despairing in trial nor self-absorbed in blessing. It introduces a closing section on prayer, showing dependence on God as the constant posture of the believing community.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 31

  • Ps 50:15Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
  • Jonah 2:2saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.
  • Eph 5:19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,
  • Acts 16:24–25On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
  • Rev 5:9–14And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
  • Rev 19:1–6After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
  • Heb 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
  • Hos 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
  • Jonah 2:7As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer went up to You, to Your holy temple.
  • Ps 142:1–3A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.
  • 2 Cor 12:7–10or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
  • Col 3:16–17Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
  • Ps 118:5In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.
  • Ps 91:15When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
  • Luke 22:44And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
  • Job 33:26He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.
  • Rev 14:3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
  • Mic 4:5Though each of the peoples may walk in the name of his god, yet we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.
  • Dan 5:4As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
  • Matt 26:30And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
  • 1 Chr 16:9Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders.
  • 1 Cor 14:26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.
  • Ps 18:6In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
  • Rev 7:10And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
  • Luke 23:42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
  • Ps 116:3–5The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
  • Ps 105:2Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders.
  • Ps 95:2Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.
  • Lam 3:55–56I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit.
  • 2 Chr 33:12–13And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
  • Judg 16:23–25Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — James videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on James 5:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JamesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The wisdom from above and the royal law of love are the life of those who belong to 'our glorious Lord Jesus Christ' — faith in him made visible in works.

How James 5:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.