The Judgment of the Nations.^* 31^f “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32^g and all the nations^* will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35^h For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous^* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40ⁱ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41^{* j} Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42^k For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44^* Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ 45He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46^l And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

1O death! How bitter is the thought of you^*

for the one at peace in his home,

For the one who is serene and always successful,

who can still enjoy life’s pleasures.

2O death! How welcome is your sentence

to the weak, failing in strength,

Stumbling and tripping on everything,

with sight gone and hope lost.^a

3Do not fear death’s decree for you;

remember, it embraces those before you and those to come.^b

4This decree for all flesh is from God;

why then should you reject a law of the Most High?

Whether one has lived a thousand years, a hundred, or ten,

in Sheol there are no arguments about life.

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.

Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought [you] to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

The Work of the Son. 19^* Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing;^k for what he does, his son will do also. 20For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.^l 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,^* so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.^m 22Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment^* to his Son,ⁿ 23so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.^o 25Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.^p 26For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself.^q 27And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.^r 28^* Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice^s 29and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.^t