praying for the dead

²⁷And in the same manner as it has been appointed for men to die one time, and after this, to be judged,

¹⁹And though they say to you, “Seek from seers and diviners,” they who hiss in their incantations, should not the people seek from their God, for the sake of the living, and not from the dead?

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.

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.”

⁸And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having stringed instruments, as well as golden bowls full of fragrances, which are the prayers of the saints.

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

⁵For the living know that they themselves will die, yet truly the dead know nothing anymore, nor do they have any recompense. For the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶Likewise, love and hatred and envy have all perished together, nor have they any place in this age and in the work which is done under the sun.

⁴His spirit will depart, and he will return to his earth. In that day, all their thoughts will perish.

¹⁹A certain man was wealthy, and he was clothed in purple and in fine linen. And he feasted splendidly every day. ²⁰And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, covered with sores, ²¹wanting to be filled with the crumbs which were falling from the wealthy man’s table. But no one gave it to him. And even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²²Then it happened that the beggar died, and he was carried by the Angels into the bosom of Abraham. Now the wealthy man also died, and he was entombed in Hell. ²³Then lifting up his eyes, while he was in torments, he saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴And crying out, he said: ‘Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to refresh my tongue. For I am tortured in this fire.’

⁵For there is one God, and one mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus,

⁵For the living know that they themselves will die, yet truly the dead know nothing anymore, nor do they have any recompense. For the memory of them is forgotten.

³¹Do not turn aside to astrologers, nor consult with soothsayers, so as to be polluted through them. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹nor one who uses spells, nor one who consults demonic spirits, nor a diviner, nor one who seeks the truth from the dead.

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.

⁶Jesus said to him: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

²⁰The soul that sins, the same shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The justice of the just man shall be upon himself, but the impiety of the impious man shall be upon himself.