The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

²⁰And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

²¹and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

²⁴So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

²⁵But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

²⁶And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’

²⁷‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house,

²⁸for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’

²⁹But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’

³⁰‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’

³¹Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”