Be wretched and mourn and weep: the command to readers to cleanse themselves is followed by a call for their repentance. This, and what James goes on to say, is reflective of prophetic language. The three imperatives used here are virtually the same in their meaning. The verb Be wretched is used only here in the New Testament. The King James Version rendering “Be afflicted” may not be the intended meaning, in that what James wants his readers to do is not to inflict hardships on themselves as a sign of repentance, but to have a sense of sorrow. The noun form of this verb is used in Rom 7.24, where Paul describes himself as a double-minded person who sees what is right and tries to put it into action, only to find that he is not able to do it. Being in this sort of situation, he characterizes himself as “Wretched man that I am!” A wretched person is therefore someone who feels miserable and sorrowful realizing that he is in a sad situation and condition. The wide area of meaning of this verb is seen in various translations trying to express some part of its meaning; for example, “Be miserable” (Goodspeed), “Be sorrowful” (Good News Translation; so also New English Bible, Revised English Bible), “Lament” (Moffatt, New Revised Standard Version), “Grieve” (New International Version), “You should be deeply sorry” (Phillips). In many languages this idea will be expressed idiomatically, referring to the heart or liver; for example, “Your heart [or, liver] should be very unhappy” or “Let your heart [or, liver] fall.”

Mourn and weep: the inner sense of wretchedness should be matched by outward expression of sorrow. The combination of terms also appears in Luke 6.25, where woe is pronounced on “you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” In the light of the sinful condition the Christians are in, and in view of the impending judgment, they should in fact be mourning and wailing. So mourning and wailing here are signs of repentance, not substitutes for it. Other possible ways to translate mourn are “cry in sadness” or “feel very sorry.” And if a translator must identify the reason for the sorrow, we may say, for example, “feel very sorry for your sins.” The word weep is a kind of “weep aloud” (Goodspeed) and so may be rendered as “wail” (New International Version). An alternative rendering for the first sentence can be:
• Be very unhappy, feel great sadness for your sins, and cry [or, weep] aloud.

Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection: this statement expands what has just been said, and is to be considered as having essentially the same meaning. In the Bible laughter is sometimes considered a desirable thing (Psa 126.2), but often it describes the shallow laughter of the fool (Pro 29.9; Eccl 7.6)—the person who has no fear of God. Laughter is condemned because people are ignorant of their own sad condition and status before God. Therefore, when Christians accept the call to turn laughter … to mourning and joy to dejection, they will be able to enjoy true blessedness. Turning from one state to another is again the true sign of repentance. Since the joy mentioned here is obviously not the healthy kind desired, it may be rendered as “gaiety” (Revised English Bible). Translators should try to find a term that describes a negative or inappropriate type of joy. Other English terms are “frivolity” and “mirth.” The word dejection is used only here in the New Testament. Rendered as “heaviness” by King James Version, it means “gloom” (Good News Translation; so also Translator’s New Testament, Revised English Bible) and describes a downcast look, being the outward expression of a heavy heart due to remorse and shame. It gives a picture of the kind of attitude and posture the tax collector had in prayer, as recorded in Luke 18.13: “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ” The passive imperative statement, Let your laughter be turned to mourning …, is best restructured into an active form in many languages; for example, “Turn your laughter into mourning…” (Revised English Bible) or “You must change your laughter into mourning….” (Contemporary English Version) has a helpful alternative model for the last two sentences of this verse:
• Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad.

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .