James 1:11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.
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Isaiah 40:7-8
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7 The grass withers; the flower fades,
[[when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.(A)
8 The grass withers; the flower fades,]][a]
but the word of our God will stand forever.(B)
Footnotes
- 40.7–8 Q ms Gk lack when the breath . . . flower fades
Psalm 37:35-36
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Luke 16:19-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,(A) 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.[a] The rich man also died and was buried.(B) 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.[b](C) 24 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, for I am in agony in these flames.’(D) 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus in like manner evil things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.(E)
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Mark 4:6
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6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away.
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James 5:1-7
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Warning to Rich Oppressors
5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.(A) 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure[a] during the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.(B) 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.(C) 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.(D)
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- 5.3 Or will eat your flesh, since you have stored up fire
Luke 12:16-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’(A) 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’(B) 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”(C)
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Matthew 13:6
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6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.
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Psalm 49:6-14
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6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?(A)
7 Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life;[a]
there is no price one can give to God for it.(B)
8 For the ransom of life is costly
and can never suffice,(C)
9 that one should live on forever
and never see the Pit.(D)
10 When we look at the wise, they die;
fool and dolt perish together
and leave their wealth to others.(E)
11 Their graves[b] are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they named lands their own.(F)
12 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.(G)
13 Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
the end of those[c] who are pleased with their lot. Selah(H)
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,[d]
and their form shall waste away;
Sheol shall be their home.[e](I)
1 Peter 5:4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.(A)
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1 Peter 1:4
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4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
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1 Corinthians 7:31
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31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.(A)
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Psalm 102:4
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4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
I am too wasted to eat my bread.(A)
Psalm 73:18-20
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Job 21:24-30
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24 his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.(A)
27 “Oh, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’(B)
29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
30 that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity
and are rescued in the day of wrath?(C)
Jonah 4:7-8
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7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
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Isaiah 49:10
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10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them
and by springs of water will guide them.(A)
Isaiah 28:4
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4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
at the head of the fertile valley,
will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer;
whoever sees it eats it up
as soon as it comes to hand.(A)
Isaiah 28:1
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Judgment on Corrupt Rulers, Priests, and Prophets
28 Woe to the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
at the head of the fertile valley,
those overcome with wine!(A)
Ecclesiastes 5:15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
15 As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil that they may carry away with their hands.(A)
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Psalm 102:11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
11 My days are like a lengthening shadow;
I wither away like grass.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.