consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Parallel translations
- WEB let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
- KJV Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
- NKJV let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
- NASB let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
- NLT you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
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
Whoever turns a sinner from his wandering saves a soul from death and covers a multitude of sins. Restoring the straying has eternal significance.
Overview
James ends by declaring the great worth of restoring a wanderer: it rescues a soul from death and results in the covering of many sins. The forgiveness in view is ultimately God's, secured through Christ, whose atoning work covers sin. The closing exhortation urges the church to take seriously the eternal stakes of pursuing and reclaiming those who stray.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Pet 4:8Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
- Prov 10:12Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.
- 1 Tim 4:16Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
- Prov 11:30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
- Jas 5:19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
- Rom 11:14in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.
- 1 Cor 9:22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
- Jas 1:15Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- Prov 11:4Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Ps 32:1Of David. A Maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
- John 5:24Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
- Prov 10:2Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Phlm 1:19I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me your very self.
- Rev 20:6Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
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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 5:20 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
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