Sunday, October 1, 2028

⁶who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever; ⁷who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners. ⁸The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down. The LORD loves the righteous. ⁹The LORD preserves the foreigners. He upholds the fatherless and widow, but he turns the way of the wicked upside down. ¹⁰The LORD will reign forever; your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

¹¹But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. ¹³I command you before God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession, ¹⁴that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which at the right time he will show, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.

¹⁹“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. ²⁰A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, ²¹and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²²The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. ²⁴He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted and you are in anguish. ²⁶Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷“He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹“But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ ³⁰“He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹“He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”