Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Be afflicted—literally, "Endure misery," that is, mourn over your wretchedness through sin. Repent with deep sorrow instead of your present laughter. A blessed mourning. Contrast Isaiah 22:12-13; Luke 6:25. James does not add here, as in James 5:1, "howl," where he foretells the doom of the impenitent at the coming destruction of Jerusalem.
heaviness—literally, "falling of the countenance," casting down of the eyes.
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