Luke 16:19-17:10

Contemporary English Version

Lazarus and the Rich Man

¹⁹ There was once a rich man who wore expensive clothes and every day ate the best food. ²⁰ But a poor beggar named Lazarus was brought to the gate of the rich man's house. ²¹ He was happy just to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. His body was covered with sores, and dogs kept coming up to lick them. ^22 (A) The poor man died, and angels took him to the place of honor next to Abraham.^[a]

The rich man also died and was buried. ^23 (B) He went to hell^[b] and was suffering terribly. When he looked up and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side, ²⁴ he said to Abraham, “Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch my tongue. I'm suffering terribly in this fire.”

²⁵ Abraham answered, “My friend, remember that while you lived, you had everything good, and Lazarus had everything bad. Now he is happy, and you are in pain. ²⁶ And besides, there is a deep ditch between us, and no one from either side can cross over.”

²⁷ But the rich man said, “Abraham, then please send Lazarus to my father's home. ²⁸ Let him warn my five brothers, so they won't come to this horrible place.”

²⁹ Abraham answered, “Your brothers can read what Moses and the prophets^[c] wrote. They should pay attention to that.”

³⁰ Then the rich man said, “No, that's not enough! If only someone from the dead would go to them, they would listen and turn to God.”

³¹ So Abraham said, “If they won't pay attention to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even to someone who comes back from the dead.”

Faith and Service

(Matthew 18.6,7,21,22; Mark 9.42)

17 Jesus said to his disciples:

There will always be something that causes people to sin. But anyone who causes them to sin is in for trouble. A person who causes even one of my little followers to sin ² would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their neck. ^3 (C) So be careful what you do.

Correct any followers^[d] of mine who sin, and forgive the ones who say they are sorry. ⁴ Even if one of them mistreats you seven times in one day and says, “I am sorry,” you should still forgive that person.

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Make our faith stronger!”

⁶ Jesus replied:

If you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up, roots and all, and to plant itself in the ocean. And it would!

⁷ If your servant comes in from plowing or from taking care of the sheep, would you say, “Welcome! Come on in and have something to eat”? ⁸ No, you wouldn't say that. You would say, “Prepare me something to eat. Get ready to serve me, so I can have my meal. Then later on you can eat and drink.” ⁹ Servants don't deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do. ¹⁰ And that's how it should be with you. When you've done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.”