As it fell out up­on one day,
Rich Di­vès made a feast,
And he in­vit­ed all his friends,
And gen­try of the best.

Then La­za­rus laid him down and down
And down at Di­vès’ door:
Some meat and drink, bro­ther, Di­ver­us,
Bestow up­on the poor.

Thou’rt none of my bro­thers, La­za­rus,
That li­est beg­ging at my door;
No meat, nor drink will I give thee,
Nor be­stow up­on the poor.

Then La­za­rus laid him down and down,
All un­der Divès’ wall:
Some meat, some drink, bro­ther Di­ver­us,
For hun­ger starve I shall.

Thou’rt none of my bro­thers, La­za­rus,
That li­est beg­ging at my gate;
No meat, no drink will I give thee,
For Je­sus Christ His sake.

Then Di­vès sent out his hun­gry dogs,
To bite him as he lay;
They hadn’t the pow­er to bite one bite,
But licked his sores away.

Then Di­vès sent to his mer­ry men,
To wor­ry poor La­za­rus away;
They’d not the pow­er to strike one stroke,
But flung their whips away.

As it fell out up­on one day,
Poor La­za­rus sick­ened and died;
There came two an­gels out of Hea­ven,
His soul there­in to guide.

Rise up! rise up! bro­ther La­za­rus,
And go along with me;
For you’ve a place pre­pared in Hea­ven,
To sit on an an­gel’s knee.

As it fell out up­on one day,
Rich Divès sick­ened and died;
There came two ser­pents out of hell,
His soul there­in to guide.

Rise up! rise up! bro­ther Di­ver­us,
And come along with me;
There is a place pro­vid­ed in hell
For wick­ed men like thee.

Then Divès looked up with his eyes
And saw poor La­za­rus blest;
Give me one drop of wa­ter, bro­ther La­za­rus,
To quench my flam­ing thirst.

O, was I now but alive again
The space of one half hour!
O, that I had my peace again
Then the de­vil should have no pow­er.