Luke 16:14–31

God’s Law Cannot Be Changed

¹⁴The Pharisees, who loved money, were listening to all these things and made fun of Jesus. ¹⁵He said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people, but God knows what is really in your hearts. What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.

¹⁶“The law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were preached until John ⁿ came. Since then the Good News about the kingdom of God is being told, and everyone tries to enter it by force. ¹⁷It would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest part of a letter in the law to be changed.

Divorce and Remarriage

¹⁸“If a man divorces his wife and marries another woman, he is guilty of adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman is also guilty of adultery.”

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹Jesus said, “There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰And a very poor man named Lazarus, whose body was covered with sores, was laid at the rich man’s gate. ²¹He wanted to eat only the small pieces of food that fell from the rich man’s table. And the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²²Later, Lazarus died, and the angels carried him to the arms of Abraham. The rich man died, too, and was buried. ²³In the place of the dead, he was in much pain. The rich man saw Abraham far away with Lazarus at his side. ²⁴He called, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire!’ ²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember when you were alive you had the good things in life, but bad things happened to Lazarus. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering. ²⁶Besides, there is a big pit between you and us, so no one can cross over to you, and no one can leave there and come here.’ ²⁷The rich man said, ‘Father, then please send Lazarus to my father’s house. ²⁸I have five brothers, and Lazarus could warn them so that they will not come to this place of pain.’ ²⁹But Abraham said, ‘They have the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets; let them learn from them.’ ³⁰The rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham! If someone goes to them from the dead, they would believe and change their hearts and lives.’ ³¹But Abraham said to him, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not listen to someone who comes back from the dead.’ ”