James 5:16

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰ παραπτώματα, καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων, ὅπως ἰαθῆτε. Πολὺ ἰσχύει δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη.

Transliteration

Exomologeisthe allēlois ta paraptōmata, and euchesthe hyper allēlōn, so that iathēte. Poly ischuei deēsis dikaiou energoumenē.

Grammar Details

• *Exomologeisthe*: present middle imperative, 2nd plural - confess
• *allēlois*: dative, masculine, plural - to one another
• *ta paraptōmata*: accusative, neuter, plural - the trespasses
• *euchesthe*: present middle imperative, 2nd plural - pray
• *hyper*: preposition + genitive - for/on behalf of
• *allēlōn*: genitive, masculine, plural - one another
• *iathēte*: aorist passive subjunctive, 2nd plural - you may be healed
• *Poly*: adverb - much/greatly
• *ischuei*: present active, 3rd singular - is effective/powerful
• *deēsis*: nominative, feminine, singular - prayer/supplication
• *dikaiou*: genitive, masculine, singular - of righteous person
• *energoumenē*: present middle participle, nominative, feminine, singular - working/operating

Word Meanings

• *Exomologeisthe*: confess/acknowledge openly
• *paraptōmata*: trespasses/sins/offenses
• *euchesthe*: pray (formal prayer)
• *iathēte*: you may be healed/cured/made whole (can refer to physical or spiritual healing)
• *ischuei*: is effective/powerful/avails much
• *deēsis*: prayer/supplication/petition
• *dikaiou*: of righteous/just person
• *energoumenē*: working/operating/being effective (middle voice suggesting fervent activity)

Referenced Verses

• John 9:31 : 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him.
• Prov 15:29 : 29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
• 1 John 3:22 : 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him.
• Ps 34:15 : 15 The LORD pays attention to the godly and hears their cry for help.
• Matt 21:22 : 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive.”
• Acts 19:18 : 18 Many of those who had believed came forward, confessing and making their deeds known.
• Luke 11:11-13 : 11 What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
• 1 Pet 2:24 : 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.
• Ps 10:17-18 : 17 LORD, you have heard the request of the oppressed; you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. 18 You defend the fatherless and oppressed, so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them.
• Jer 29:12-13 : 12 When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. 13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul,
• Gen 20:17 : 17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.
• Num 11:2 : 2 When the people cried to Moses, he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died out.
• Ps 145:18-19 : 18 The LORD is near all who cry out to him, all who cry out to him sincerely. 19 He satisfies the desire of his loyal followers; he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
• Prov 15:8 : 8 The LORD abhors the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
• Job 42:8 : 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
• Heb 12:13 : 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.
• 1 Thess 5:17 : 17 constantly pray,
• Rom 5:19 : 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous.
• Luke 18:1-8 : 1 Prayer and the Parable of the Persistent Widow Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart. 2 He said,“In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying,‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself,‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, 5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’” 6 And the Lord said,“Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! 7 Won’t God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
• 2 Kgs 20:2-5 : 2 He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 “Please, LORD. Remember how I have served you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, and how I have carried out your will.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Isaiah had not yet left the middle courtyard when the LORD’s message came to him, 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people:‘This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David has said:“I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow you will go up to the LORD’s temple.
• Prov 28:9 : 9 The one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
• Matt 3:6 : 6 and he was baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
• Gen 18:23-32 : 23 Abraham approached and said,“Will you really sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing– to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?” 26 So the LORD replied,“If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham asked,“Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord(although I am but dust and ashes), 28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy the whole city because five are lacking?” He replied,“I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Abraham spoke to him again,“What if forty are found there?” He replied,“I will not do it for the sake of the forty.” 30 Then Abraham said,“May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak! What if thirty are found there?” He replied,“I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Abraham said,“Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied,“I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.” 32 Finally Abraham said,“May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied,“I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
• Exod 9:28-29 : 28 Pray to the LORD, for the mighty thunderings and hail are too much! I will release you and you will stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him,“When I leave the city I will spread my hands to the LORD, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the LORD.
• Exod 9:33 : 33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth.
• Exod 17:11 : 11 Whenever Moses would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest his hands, then Amalek prevailed.
• Exod 32:10-14 : 10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God and said,“O LORD, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say,‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them,‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’” 14 Then the LORD relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
• Gen 19:29 : 29 So when God destroyed the cities of the region, God honored Abraham’s request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.
• Gen 20:7 : 7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”
• Gen 32:28 : 28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him,“but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.”
• Gen 41:9-9 : 9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh,“Today I recall my failures. 10 Pharaoh was enraged with his servants, and he put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guards– me and the chief baker.
• 1 Kgs 17:18-24 : 18 She asked Elijah,“Why, prophet, have you come to me to confront me with my sin and kill my son?” 19 He said to her,“Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. 20 Then he called out to the LORD,“O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?” 21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the LORD,“O LORD, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.” 22 The LORD answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived. 23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said,“See, your son is alive!” 24 The woman said to Elijah,“Now I know that you are a prophet and that the LORD’s message really does come through you.”
• 2 Kgs 4:33-35 : 33 He went in by himself and closed the door. Then he prayed to the LORD. 34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out over the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him, and the boy’s skin grew warm. 35 Elisha went back and walked around in the house. Then he got up on the bed again and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
• 2 Kgs 19:15-20 : 15 Hezekiah prayed before the LORD:“LORD God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the earth. 16 Pay attention, LORD, and hear! Open your eyes, LORD, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! 17 It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. 18 They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. 19 Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, LORD, are the only God.” 20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah:“This is what the LORD God of Israel has said:‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria.
• Num 21:7-9 : 7 Then the people came to Moses and said,“We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses,“Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived.
• Deut 9:18-20 : 18 Then I again fell down before the LORD for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the LORD as to enrage him. 19 For I was terrified at the LORD’s intense anger that threatened to destroy you. But he listened to me this time as well. 20 The LORD was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him too.
• Josh 10:12 : 12 The day the LORD delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the LORD before Israel:“O sun, stand still over Gibeon! O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!”
• Matt 7:7-9 : 7 Ask, Seek, Knock“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
• Dan 9:20-22 : 20 Gabriel Gives to Daniel a Prophecy of Seventy Weeks While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain– 21 yes, while I was still praying, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, around the time of the evening offering. 22 He spoke with me, instructing me as follows:“Daniel, I have now come to impart understanding to you.
• Jer 33:3 : 3 ‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious things which you still do not know about.’
• 2 Chr 30:20 : 20 The LORD responded favorably to Hezekiah and forgave the people.
• 2 Chr 32:20-22 : 20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven. 21 The LORD sent a messenger and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib returned home humiliated. When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword. 22 The LORD delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations. He made them secure on every side.
• Luke 7:3-4 : 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they urged him earnestly,“He is worthy to have you do this for him,
• Acts 4:24-31 : 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said,“Master of all, you who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, 25 who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather,‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot foolish things? 26 The kings of the earth stood together, and the rulers assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ.’ 27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do as much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would happen. 29 And now, Lord, pay attention to their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage, 30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously.
• Acts 10:38 : 38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.
• Acts 12:5-9 : 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him. 6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying,“Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 The angel said to him,“Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” Peter did so. Then the angel said to him,“Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9 Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said,“Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.”
• Col 1:9 : 9 Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
• Rom 3:10 : 10 just as it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one,
• 1 Thess 5:23 : 23 Conclusion Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1 Thess 5:25 : 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us too.
• Heb 11:7 : 7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
• Heb 13:18 : 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to conduct ourselves rightly in every respect.
• Heb 11:4 : 4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.
• Luke 9:6 : 6 Then they departed and went throughout the villages, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
• 2 Chr 14:11-12 : 11 Asa prayed to the LORD his God:“O LORD, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army. O LORD, you are our God; don’t let men prevail against you!” 12 The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled,
• 1 Kgs 13:6 : 6 The king responded to the prophet,“Seek the favor of the LORD your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the LORD’s favor and the king’s hand was restored as it was at first.
• Dan 2:18-23 : 18 He asked them to pray for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he and his friends would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then in a night vision the mystery was revealed to Daniel. So Daniel praised the God of heaven, 20 saying,“Let the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him. 21 He changes times and seasons, deposing some kings and establishing others. He gives wisdom to the wise; he imparts knowledge to those with understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and light resides with him. 23 O God of my fathers, I acknowledge and glorify you, for you have bestowed wisdom and power on me. Now you have enabled me to understand what I requested from you. For you have enabled me to understand the king’s dilemma.”
• Jer 15:1 : 1 Then the LORD said to me,“Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! Get them away from me! Tell them to go away!
• Hos 12:3-4 : 3 Israel Must Return to the God of Jacob In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God. 4 He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!
• Matt 18:15-17 : 15 Restoring Christian Relationships“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector.
• Num 14:13-20 : 13 Moses said to the LORD,“When the Egyptians hear it– for you brought up this people by your power from among them– 14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, LORD, are among this people, that you, LORD, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, 18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ 19 Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.” 20 Then the LORD said,“I have forgiven them as you asked.
• 1 Sam 12:18 : 18 So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD made it thunder and rain that day. All the people were very afraid of both the LORD and Samuel.
• 2 Sam 19:19 : 19 He said to the king,“Don’t think badly of me, my lord, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left Jerusalem! Please don’t call it to mind!