19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
19 My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
19 My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back,
Matthew Henry's Commentary on James 5:19
Commentary on James 5:19-20
(Read James 5:19-20)
It is no mark of a wise or holy man, to boast of being free from error, or to refuse to acknowledge an error. And there is some doctrinal mistake at the bottom of every practical mistake. There is no one habitually bad, but upon some bad principle. This is conversion; to turn a sinner from the error of his ways, not merely from one party to another, or from one notion and way of thinking to another. There is no way effectually and finally to hide sin, but forsaking it. Many sins are hindered in the party converted; many also may be so in others whom he may influence. The salvation of one soul is of infinitely greater importance than preserving the lives of multitudes, or promoting the welfare of a whole people. Let us in our several stations keep these things in mind, sparing no pains in God's service, and the event will prove that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. For six thousand years He has been multiplying pardons, and yet his free grace is not tired nor grown weary. Certainly Divine mercy is an ocean that is ever full and ever flowing. May the Lord give us a part in this abundant mercy, through the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit.