diff --git a/src/evaluate.py b/src/evaluate.py
index 5622aa2..dec9ed0 100644
--- a/src/evaluate.py
+++ b/src/evaluate.py
@@ -125,5 +125,6 @@ def main(cfg: DictConfig) -> None:
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    utils.replace_sys_args_with_values_from_files()
     utils.prepare_omegaconf()
     main()
diff --git a/src/evaluate_documents.py b/src/evaluate_documents.py
index 5f12719..0df8586 100644
--- a/src/evaluate_documents.py
+++ b/src/evaluate_documents.py
@@ -106,5 +106,6 @@ def main(cfg: DictConfig) -> Any:
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    utils.replace_sys_args_with_values_from_files()
     utils.prepare_omegaconf()
     main()
diff --git a/src/predict.py b/src/predict.py
index 522a3db..d05c8cd 100644
--- a/src/predict.py
+++ b/src/predict.py
@@ -132,5 +132,6 @@ def main(cfg: DictConfig) -> None:
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    utils.replace_sys_args_with_values_from_files()
     utils.prepare_omegaconf()
     main()
diff --git a/src/train.py b/src/train.py
index 101841f..5536370 100644
--- a/src/train.py
+++ b/src/train.py
@@ -229,5 +229,6 @@ def main(cfg: DictConfig) -> Optional[float]:
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    utils.replace_sys_args_with_values_from_files()
     utils.prepare_omegaconf()
     main()
diff --git a/src/utils/__init__.py b/src/utils/__init__.py
index 6f9f927..a7b70da 100644
--- a/src/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/src/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 from .config_utils import execute_pipeline, instantiate_dict_entries, prepare_omegaconf
 from .logging_utils import close_loggers, get_pylogger, log_hyperparameters
 from .rich_utils import enforce_tags, print_config_tree
-from .task_utils import extras, save_file, task_wrapper
+from .task_utils import extras, replace_sys_args_with_values_from_files, save_file, task_wrapper
diff --git a/src/utils/task_utils.py b/src/utils/task_utils.py
index 37a6aa7..3b8fd3d 100644
--- a/src/utils/task_utils.py
+++ b/src/utils/task_utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+import json
+import os
+import sys
 import time
 import warnings
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Callable
+from typing import Callable, Dict
 
 from omegaconf import DictConfig
 from pytorch_lightning.utilities import rank_zero_only
@@ -85,3 +88,91 @@ def save_file(path: str, content: str) -> None:
     """Save file in rank zero mode (only on one process in multi-GPU setup)."""
     with open(path, "w+") as file:
         file.write(content)
+
+
+def load_value_from_file(path: str, split_path_key: str = ":", split_key_parts: str = "/") -> Dict:
+    """Load a value from a file. The path can point to elements within the file (see split_path_key
+    parameter) and that can be nested (see split_key_parts parameter). For now, only .json files
+    are supported.
+
+    Args:
+        path: path to the file (and data within the file)
+        split_path_key: split the path on this value to get the path to the file and the key within the file
+        split_key_parts: the value to split the key on to get the nested keys
+    """
+
+    parts_path = path.split(split_path_key, maxsplit=1)
+    file_extension = os.path.splitext(parts_path[0])[1]
+    if file_extension == ".json":
+        with open(parts_path[0], "r") as f:
+            data = json.load(f)
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(f"Expected .json file, got {file_extension}")
+
+    if len(parts_path) == 1:
+        return data
+
+    keys = parts_path[1].split(split_key_parts)
+    for key in keys:
+        data = data[key]
+    return data
+
+
+def replace_sys_args_with_values_from_files(
+    load_prefix: str = "LOAD_ARG:",
+    load_multi_prefix: str = "LOAD_MULTI_ARG:",
+    **load_value_from_file_kwargs,
+) -> None:
+    """Replaces arguments in sys.argv with values loaded from files.
+
+    Examples:
+        # config.json contains {"a": 1, "b": 2}
+        python train.py LOAD_ARG:job_return_value.json
+        # this will pass "{a:1,b:2}" as the first argument to train.py
+
+        # config.json contains [1, 2, 3]
+        python train.py LOAD_MULTI_ARG:job_return_value.json
+        # this will pass "1,2,3" as the first argument to train.py
+
+        # config.json contains {"model": {"ouput_dir": ["path1", "path2"], f1: [0.7, 0.6]}}
+        python train.py load_model=LOAD_ARG:job_return_value.json:model/output_dir
+        # this will pass "load_model=path1,path2" to train.py
+
+    Args:
+        load_prefix: the prefix to use for loading a single value from a file
+        load_multi_prefix: the prefix to use for loading a list of values from a file
+        **load_value_from_file_kwargs: additional kwargs to pass to load_value_from_file
+    """
+
+    updated_args = []
+    for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
+        is_multirun_arg = False
+        if load_prefix in arg:
+            parts = arg.split(load_prefix, maxsplit=1)
+        elif load_multi_prefix in arg:
+            parts = arg.split(load_multi_prefix, maxsplit=1)
+            is_multirun_arg = True
+        else:
+            updated_args.append(arg)
+            continue
+        if len(parts) == 2:
+            log.warning(f'Replacing argument value for "{parts[0]}" with content from {parts[1]}')
+            json_value = load_value_from_file(parts[1], **load_value_from_file_kwargs)
+            json_value_str = json.dumps(json_value)
+            # replace quotes and spaces
+            json_value_str = json_value_str.replace('"', "").replace(" ", "")
+            # remove outer brackets
+            if is_multirun_arg:
+                if not isinstance(json_value, list):
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        f"Expected list for multirun argument, got {type(json_value)}. If you just want "
+                        f"to set a single value, use {load_prefix} instead of {load_multi_prefix}."
+                    )
+                json_value_str = json_value_str[1:-1]
+            # add outer quotes
+            modified_arg = f"{parts[0]}{json_value_str}"
+            updated_args.append(modified_arg)
+        else:
+            updated_args.append(arg)
+    # Set sys.argv to the updated arguments
+    sys.argv = [sys.argv[0]] + updated_args