"If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be convinced
if some one should rise from the dead."
Luke 16:31
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away (Psalm 1:4). For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish (Psalm 1:6).
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'arus in his bosom (Luke 16:22-23).
And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment' (Luke 16:27-28).
Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the LORD (Jeremiah 17:5).
In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. -- Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, August 15th
