The SKV

Luke 16

And there was a certain rich man and he dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxurious joy every day. But a certain poor man named Lazarus was placed at his entrance, covered with sores. And longing to be fed from that which fell from the table of the wealthy man, and also the dogs came and licked his sores. And it happened that the poor man died to be carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. And the wealthy man died and was buried. And in Hades he raised his eyes, being in pain, he saw Abraham from a distance and Lazarus in his bosom. And calling, he said, "Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in great pain in this flame." But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you received your good in your life and Lazarus in the same way evil. But now here, he is comforted and you are in great pain and with all this between us and you a great chasm has been established so that those who wish to cross over from this place to yours are not able to, nor can they cross over from there to us.' But he said, "Therefore I beg you, father, that you send him to the house of my father, for I have five brothers, so that he may declare to them in order that they not also be brought to this place of pain.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.' But he said, 'No, Father Abraham, but if someone comes to them from the dead they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If Moses and the prophets they will not listen to, neither will they be convinced if someone is raised from the dead.'

There was a rich man who dressed in bright colors and fine cotton, living with his excellent entertainments daily. There was also a disabled poor man named Lazarus who begged outside his property daily, who was obviously sick. Lazarus dreamed about laying under the wealthy man’s table just to eat what fell on the floor, but all he got were kids coming by, yelling at him and throwing things at him. The poor man finally died, and angels carried him to Abraham in heaven. And the wealthy man also died and was given a proper burial, but ended up in hell where he was in agony. The wealthy man looked up and saw Abraham and Lazarus in heaven from a long distance off and he called out, “Father Abraham! Father Abraham! I am a religious man, so please do me a favor and ask Lazarus to come over to give me just the smallest amount of pain reliever because I am in terrible agony.” Abraham replied, “My son, do you remember in the time of your life? You had all the good, and Lazarus had all the evil in the world. Now in this life there is finally justice so Lazarus is comforted and you are in agony. Besides, the distance between us is so great that no one can go from one side to the other.” The rich man yelled out again, “Then could you please send Lazarus to my family? I have five brothers and I don’t want them to suffer here with me.” Abraham replied curtly, “Let them listen to the Bible.” The man said, “But they don’t, Father Abraham! But if someone comes to them from the dead to sternly warn them, they will listen.” Abraham replied, “If those Scrooges won’t listen to the Scriptures, then they won’t listen to a ghost.”

posted by Steve Kimes @ 7:36 PM