the dead

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.

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

²⁵The dead will not praise you, Lord, and neither will all those who descend into Hell.

¹²and to walk honestly with those who are outside, and to desire nothing belonging to another. 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.

¹Most beloved, do not be willing to believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

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

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,

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.

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.

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?

¹²Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin, death; so also death was transferred to all men, to all who have sinned.

²⁶And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been established, so that those who might want to cross from here to you are not able, nor can someone cross from there to here.’

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

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

¹³Thus did Saul die for his iniquities, because he betrayed the commandment of the Lord which he had instructed, and did not keep it. And moreover, he even consulted a woman diviner; ¹⁴for he did not trust in the Lord. Because of this, he caused his death, and he transferred his kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

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.

¹²And there is no salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which it is necessary for us to be saved.”

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