But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.
Parallel translations
- WEB “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.
- KJV But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
- NKJV But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
- NASB But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.
- NLT “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.
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
Abraham reminds him of the reversal: he enjoyed good things in life while Lazarus suffered, and now their states are exchanged.
Overview
The point is not that wealth itself damns or poverty saves, but that a life of self-indulgent comfort without faith or mercy ends in loss. Abraham gently but firmly states the justice of the reversal. Earthly ease without God leads to eternal anguish; suffering endured in faith finds comfort.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Luke 6:24But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
- 1 Jn 2:15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Ps 17:14from such men, O LORD, by Your hand—from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.
- Mark 9:45If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
- Rom 8:7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- Phil 3:19Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
- Ps 37:35–36I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Acts 14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
- 1 Th 3:3so that none of you would be shaken by these trials. For you know that we are destined for this.
- Heb 11:25He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.
- Job 22:18But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
- Lam 1:7In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands she received no help. Her enemies looked upon her, laughing at her downfall.
- Ps 73:12–19Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree as they increase their wealth.
- Luke 16:20And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores
- Dan 5:22–23But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
- John 16:33I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
- Luke 16:23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
- Dan 5:30That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,
- Ps 49:11Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.
- Job 21:13–14They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
- Rev 7:14“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
- Ps 73:7From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
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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 16:25 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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