From reading the book of James, one observes the following:

-The rich will not last eternally, while the poor will be exalted. (1:9, 2:5, 5:1-3)
-The rich keep wealth from the poor through fraud. (5:4)
-The rich condemn and kill the just. (5:6)
-The rich live in pleasure and want more. (5:5 - also Ecclesiastes 5:10)
-The rich are the ones who oppress Christians and draw them before the courts while blaspheming. (2:6)

-We are not supposed to treat the rich with special privilege over the poor. (2:1-4 - also Leviticus 19:15)
-Faith should produce works or is useless. Those who ignore the suffering of others, blessing them when not choosing to help them with food/shelter have a dead faith. (2:14-20)

James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

James 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.


James 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
The following are some more observations from the Bible:

-The poor are blessed in spirit, and will inherit the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:43)
-God does not care about fasting to afflict one's soul, but rather to unloose the bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, break bondage, deal food to the hungry, and shelter the naked and poor. (Isaiah 58:3-7)

Matthew 5:43 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Isaiah 58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
On prosperity:

-In this life at least, success does not depend on speed, strength, wisdom, understanding, or skill, but on time and luck for everyone. (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
-Death comes regardless of one's sinfulness, happening inevitably to everyone, and repentance for eternal life is what matters. (Luke 13:2-5)
-It is just that those who in this life receive good things receive bad in the next, and vice versa. (Luke 16:25)

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.


Luke 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
And finally, a study on Proverbs and Ecclesiastes:

-It is better to be poor and walking in one's integrity than to be a perverse-tongued foolish rich man. (Proverbs 19:1, 28:6)
-Just as one comes naked from the womb, so one will go out, for we can take nothing physical with us. (Ecclesiastes 5:15-16 - also 1 Timothy 6:7, Job 1:21)
-Those who oppress the poor reproach God Himself, and those who have mercy on them honour God. (14:31, 14:21, 17:5, 19:17)
-Even the neighbors and brothers of the poor hate them, and will not befriend even when pursued with words, but the rich have many friends due to wealth. (14:20, 19:4)
-The rich take safety in their wealth, and are arrogant as a result. (18:11)
-The poor use requests/pleas but the rich answer rudely/arrogantly. (18:23)
-God makes both the rich and poor. (Proverbs 22:2)
-The sleep of a working man is sweet regardless of food, but the wealth of the rich won't allow him to sleep. (Ecclesiastes 5:12)

Proverbs 19:1 Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Proverbs 28:6 Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.

Ecclesiastes 5:15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?

Proverbs 14:31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Proverbs 14:20 The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
Proverbs 19:4 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.
Proverbs 19:6 Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
7 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.

Proverbs 18:11 The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.

Proverbs 18:23 The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.