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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;
Luke 16:22 · King James Version
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.
  • 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 bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
  • Ps 49:16–19Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
  • Rev 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
  • Jas 1:11For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
  • Prov 14:32The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
  • Matt 18:10Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
  • Ps 49:6–12They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
  • Eccl 8:10And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
  • Isa 57:1–2The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
  • Mark 8:36For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
  • Job 21:13They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
  • Heb 1:14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
  • Ps 91:11–12For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
  • Matt 24:31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
  • Luke 12:20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
  • John 13:23Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
  • Ps 73:18–20Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
  • Job 21:30–32That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
  • Job 3:13–19For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
  • 2 Kgs 9:34–35And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.
  • Isa 22:16What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
  • John 21:20Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
  • Heb 2:14Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
  • Matt 8:11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
  • Isa 14:18All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
  • Matt 13:38–43The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 16:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.