funerals

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.

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.

¹⁹The Lord is near to those who are troubled in heart, and he will save the humble in spirit.

⁴Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.

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.

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. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.

¹⁰Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not turn away, for I am your God. I have strengthened you, and I have assisted you, and the right hand of my just one has upheld you.

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.”

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation. ⁴He consoles us in all our tribulation, so that we too may be able to console those who are in any kind of distress, through the exhortation by which we also are being exhorted by God.

⁸For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

²⁰But our way of life is in heaven. And from heaven, too, we await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who will transform the body of our lowliness, according to the form of the body of his glory, by means of that power by which he is even able to subject all things to himself.