²⁶ and none will miscarry or be barren^(A) in your land. I will give you a full life span.^(B)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.^(A)

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool!^(A) This very night your life will be demanded from you.^(B) Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’^(C)

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”^(D)

A Common Destiny for All

9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.^{(A) 2} All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,^[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

¹¹ The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock^(A) and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.^(B)

¹³ He will love you and bless you^(A) and increase your numbers.^(B) He will bless the fruit of your womb,^(C) the crops of your land—your grain, new wine^(D) and olive oil^(E)—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.^{(F) 14} You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.^(G)