2 Chron. 32:20–33

32:20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven. 21The Lord sent a messenger and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib returned home humiliated. When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword. 22The Lord delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations. He made them secure on every side. 23Many were bringing presents to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by all the nations.

24In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a sign confirming that he would be healed. 25But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem. 26But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the Lord was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign.

27Hezekiah was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all his other valuable possessions. 28He made storerooms for the harvest of grain, wine, and olive oil, and stalls for all his various kinds of livestock and his flocks. 29He built royal cities and owned a large number of sheep and cattle, for God gave him a huge amount of possessions.

30Hezekiah dammed up the source of the waters of the Upper Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did. 31So when the envoys arrived from the Babylonian officials to visit him and inquire about the sign that occurred in the land, God left him alone to test him in order to know his true motives.

32The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, including his faithful deeds, are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, included in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 33Hezekiah passed away and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor. His son Manasseh replaced him as king.

Ps. 106:24–48

106:24 They rejected the fruitful land;

they did not believe his promise.

25They grumbled in their tents;

they did not obey the Lord.

26So he made a solemn vow

that he would make them die in the wilderness,

27make their descendants die among the nations,

and scatter them among foreign lands.

28They worshiped Baal of Peor

and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.

29They made the Lord angry by their actions,

and a plague broke out among them.

30Phinehas took a stand and intervened,

and the plague subsided.

31This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act

for all generations to come.

32They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,

and Moses suffered because of them,

33for they aroused his temper,

and he spoke rashly.

34They did not destroy the nations,

as the Lord had commanded them to do.

35They mixed in with the nations

and learned their ways.

36They worshiped their idols,

which became a snare to them.

37They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.

38They shed innocent blood—

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.

The land was polluted by bloodshed.

39They were defiled by their deeds

and unfaithful in their actions.

40So the Lord was angry with his people

and despised the people who belonged to him.

41He handed them over to the nations,

and those who hated them ruled over them.

42Their enemies oppressed them;

they were subject to their authority.

43Many times he delivered them,

but they had a rebellious attitude

and degraded themselves by their sin.

44Yet he took notice of their distress,

when he heard their cry for help.

45He remembered his covenant with them

and relented because of his great loyal love.

46He caused all their conquerors

to have pity on them.

47Deliver us, O Lord, our God.

Gather us from among the nations.

Then we will give thanks to your holy name,

and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.

48The Lord God of Israel deserves praise,

in the future and forevermore.

Let all the people say, “We agree! Praise the Lord!”

Luke 16:14–31

16:14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. 15But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.

16“The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void.

18“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

19“There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 21who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

22“Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. 24So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in anguish in this fire.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house 28(for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ 29But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ 30Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”