15
He said to them, "You people make yourselves look righteous to others, but God knows your hearts; what people regard highly is an abomination before God!
16
Up to the time of Yochanan there were the Torah and the Prophets. Since then the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is pushing to get in.
17
But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the Torah to become void.
18
Every man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and a man who marries a woman divorced by her husband commits adultery.
19
"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in the most expensive clothing and spent his days in magnificent luxury.
20
At his gate had been laid a beggar named El`azar who was covered with sores.
21
He would have been glad to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man's table; but instead, even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
22
In time the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Avraham's side; the rich man also died and was buried.
23
"In Sh'ol, where he was in torment, the rich man looked up and saw Avraham far away with El`azar at his side.
24
He called out, `Father Avraham, take pity on me, and send El`azar just to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, because I'm in agony in this fire!'
25
However, Avraham said, `Son, remember that when you were alive, you got the good things while he got the bad; but now he gets his conso lation here, while you are the one in agony.