death and dying

¹“Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me also. ²In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will return again, and then I will take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be.

⁷and the dust returns to its earth, from which it was, and the spirit returns to God, who granted it.

²⁵Jesus said to her: “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me, even though he has died, he shall live.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.

¹³And we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, so as not to be sorrowful, like these others who do not have hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus has died and risen again, so also will God bring back with Jesus those who sleep in him. ¹⁵For we say this to you, in the Word of the Lord: that we who are alive, who remain until the return of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself, with a command and with the voice of an Archangel and with a trumpet of God, shall descend from heaven. And the dead, who are in Christ, shall rise up first. ¹⁷Next, we who are alive, who are remaining, shall be taken up quickly together with them into the clouds to meet Christ in the air. And in this way, we shall be with the Lord always. ¹⁸Therefore, console one another with these words.

⁴³And Jesus said to him, “Amen I say to you, this day you shall be with me in Paradise.”

²⁸And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. But instead fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.

⁴And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. And neither mourning, nor crying out, nor grief shall be anymore. For the first things have passed away.”

²And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken: some to everlasting life, and others to a reproach that they will always see.

⁶Therefore, we are ever confident, knowing that, while we are in the body, we are on a pilgrimage in the Lord. ⁷For we walk by means of faith, and not by sight. ⁸So we are confident, and we have the good will to be on a pilgrimage in the body, so as to be present to the Lord.

²⁸Do not be amazed at this. For the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God. ²⁹And those who have done good shall go forth to the resurrection of life. Yet truly, those who have done evil shall go to the resurrection of judgment.

¹A Psalm of David. The Lord directs me, and nothing will be lacking to me. ²He has settled me here, in a place of pasture. He has led me out to the water of refreshment. ³He has converted my soul. He has led me away on the paths of justice, for the sake of his name. ⁴For, even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they have given me consolation. ⁵You have prepared a table in my sight, opposite those who trouble me. You have anointed my head with oil, and my cup, which inebriates me, how brilliant it is! ⁶And your mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and so may I dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days.

³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will return again, and then I will take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be.

⁵¹Behold, I tell you a mystery. Certainly, we shall all rise again, but we shall not all be transformed: ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise up, incorruptible. And we shall be transformed. ⁵³Thus, it is necessary for this corruptibility to be clothed with incorruptibility, and for this mortality to be clothed with immortality. ⁵⁴And when this mortality has been clothed with immortality, then the word that was written shall occur: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁶Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones.

²³For the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.