Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. They may rest from their labors, and their works follow them. § There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.  § Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. § The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence. I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Evening Daily Light

 The night is coming when no one can work. 

There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on … That they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them. “Our friend Lazarus sleeps.” … Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. We who are in this tent groan, being burdened. § We also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 

There remains … a rest for the people of God. § My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. § There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. § They … rest from their labors. The forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. § In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

 Shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? 

The additional words " from henceforth," give this passage a specific and prophetical meaning. Neglecting these at present, we may consider the great unquestionable truth that there is for the Christian a blessedness in death. Not but that there is something better than death. Death is one of the enemies of Christ that must be put under his feet, and his saints shall one day get the victory over it, and, undergoing a change at his advent, live on eternally. In the meantime however, death is constrained with other agencies to work together for good to the people of God. Their faith deprives him of his terrors. Three thousand souls an hour, fifty a minute, pass away from earth. How few of these die in the Lord! Think of this you that know the Lord, and whom he has commissioned to make him known. You are to meet -these souls again; and happy will it be for you if you are able to show that you sought earnestly to obtain for your fellow-men this blessedness. They are blessed, for they have great peace in the hour of their dissolution. Their cheerful exit confirms the faith of those that behold, and brings heaven near. It sometimes carries conviction to the impenitent, and leads them to seek that God who has such power to sustain and bless the souls of his people. They pass away from a world of sin and temptation and disappointment and vanity, to a world of light and purity. They depart to be with Christ, - to dwell in the mansions which he has prepared for them, - to associate with angels and with saints in light, - to drink of the rivers of pleasure that are for ever at the right hand of God, - to obtain a crown of righteousness. And if the king has summoned one of his own away from your side, can you greatly grieve? Does not the blessedness of that departure greatly overbear your individual brief loss, and flash down a glory upon your own desolation? Do you think much more of your own poor blessedness, thus interrupted, than of the perfect beatitude into which the other has entered? Would you make war upon this text? For the dead that die in the Lord are blessed for this among other reasons, that they leave behind them unspeakable consolations. Yes, it teaches that the survivor, who had a property in the one taken away, has not lost anything, but has seen his property taken upon high, that it may be rendered immeasurably more valuable and kept securely till the day of the restitution of all things. We do not want our wealth with us, but in the country to which we are going. " How great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee." And the loved ones taken are a part of that treasured goodness. Let Him then prepare a place for thee, in the way that seems best to Him. Too large an earnest of the inheritance that is to come, might check the vigor of our aspirations. The little paradises of earth, very little worthy of the name, yet clothe themselves with the superior power that belongs to present things, and disrobe from our view the only true paradise above.

A daily devotional written by a Baptist Missionary to India, Reverend George Bowen (1816-1888) over 150 years ago.

Bowen's Daily Meditations

" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." - Revelation 14:13.

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord<cr>1</cr> from now on.”<pb/>“Yes,” says the Spirit,<cr>2</cr> “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Revelation 14:13

 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord  from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit,  “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Revelation 14:13 NIV

Revelation 14:13 NIV

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