The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
Parallel translations
- KJV And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
- BSB One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.
- NKJV So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
- NASB Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried.
- NLT “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Both men die: Lazarus is carried by angels to Abraham's side, while the rich man is merely buried. Death reverses their fortunes.
Overview
The angelic escort to 'Abraham's bosom,' a Jewish image of blessed rest with the patriarch, contrasts with the rich man's bare burial. Earthly status counts for nothing now. The verse marks the great turning point, showing that eternal realities, not present comforts, ultimately matter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- 1 Pet 2:24who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
- Ps 49:16–19Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
- Rev 14:13I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”
- Jas 1:11For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits.
- Prov 14:32The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
- Matt 18:10See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
- Ps 49:6–12Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches —
- Eccl 8:10So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is vanity.
- Isa 57:1–2The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
- Mark 8:36For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?
- Job 21:13They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.
- Heb 1:14Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
- Ps 91:11–12For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.
- Matt 24:31He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
- Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared — whose will they be?’
- John 13:23One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast.
- Ps 73:18–20Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
- Job 21:30–32that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led out to the day of wrath?
- Job 3:13–19For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest,
- 2 Kgs 9:34–35When he had come in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.”
- Isa 22:16‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!”
- John 21:20Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”
- Heb 2:14Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
- Matt 8:11I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,
- Isa 14:18All the kings of the nations, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house.
- Matt 13:38–43the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 16:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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