One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.
Parallel translations
- WEB The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
- 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;
- 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 2:24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Ps 49:16–19Do not be amazed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases.
- Rev 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”
- Jas 1:11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
- Prov 14:32The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
- Matt 18:10See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.
- Ps 49:6–12They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- Eccl 8:10Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.
- Isa 57:1–2The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
- Mark 8:36What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
- Job 21:13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
- Heb 1:14Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
- Ps 91:11–12For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
- Matt 24:31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- John 13:23One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.
- Ps 73:18–20Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Job 21:30–32Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
- Job 3:13–19For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
- 2 Kgs 9:34–35Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of this cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king.”
- Isa 22:16What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock?
- John 21:20Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”
- Heb 2:14Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
- Matt 8:11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
- Isa 14:18All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
- Matt 13:38–43The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons 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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