James 5:15

And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — James addresses a local church community, writing immediately after instructing them to call elders to pray and anoint the sick. He explains the expected outcome of that specific pastoral intervention.

The words — The Greek εὐχὴ (euchē) means a formal petition, and πίστεως (pisteōs) specifies that the prayer operates on trust rather than ritual. The verb σώσει (sōsei) literally means to save or preserve, indicating comprehensive restoration rather than mere relief.

The thread — The text explicitly links faith-driven intercession with both physical raising and forgiveness, a pattern that runs through the call to pray in suffering (James 5:13), the command to confess sins for communal healing (James 5:16), and the principle that God hears requests aligned with His will (1 John 5:14).

Why it lands — The text states that elders' prayers will restore the sick, that the Lord will raise the patient, and that sin will be forgiven if present. It requires readers to submit to church leadership for intercession, accept forgiveness as part of the healing process, and trust that authoritative prayer operates within God's sovereign will.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

καὶkaiAnd ἡhēthe εὐχὴeuchēprayer τῆςtēs<the>πίστεωςpisteōsof faith σώσειsōseiwill save τὸνtonthe [one]κάμνονταkamnontaailing καὶkaiand ἐγερεῖegereiwill raise up αὐτὸνautonhim ὁhothe κύριος·kuriosLord;κἂνkanand if ἁμαρτίαςhamartiassins ᾖēhe shall be [one]πεποιηκώς,pepoiēkōshaving committed,ἀφεθήσεταιaphethēsetaiit will be forgiven αὐτῷ.¶autōto him.

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
James 5:13 Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
James 5:16 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.
Matthew 21:21 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
James 1:6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Matthew 17:20 “Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Isaiah 33:24 And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven of iniquity.
Mark 16:17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
John 5:14 Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”