What Does James 5:16 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail." James 5:16, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
James 5:18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
A conversation built on it
Praying the same thing for years without change makes it feel like the words are going nowhere. James answers with Elijah, who sent a servant to check the sky seven separate times. Six of those trips came back with nothing. The cloud was not absent — it was not visible yet.
Questions people ask
What does James 5:16 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.” The King James rendering most people know is: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
What is the context of James 5:16?
The verses immediately around it read: (James 5:14) Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: (James 5:15) And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (James 5:16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:17) Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:18) And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
How is James 5:16 used in a conversation about this?
Praying the same thing for years without change makes it feel like the words are going nowhere. James answers with Elijah, who sent a servant to check the sky seven separate times. Six of those trips came back with nothing. The cloud was not absent — it was not visible yet.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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