Revelation 14:13 — Blessed Are the Dead Which Die in the Lord

Why families choose it

For centuries this has been the sentence said at the grave itself — the Prayer Book places it directly after the body is committed to the ground. It earns that place by what it claims: that the dead are blessed, that they rest from their labours, and that their works follow them — nothing done in love is left behind. At a committal it says everything required in a single breath from heaven. Its brevity is the point: at the graveside, standing in the open with the family in front of the grave, nothing longer would be heard, and nothing shorter would be enough.

Reading it aloud

There are three speakers in one verse — John, the voice from heaven, and the Spirit’s answer — so let small pauses mark the joins, especially before ‘Yea, saith the Spirit’. At a graveside, wind and open air swallow words: stand close, lift the voice, and go slower than indoors. End cleanly on ‘their works do follow them’ and let the silence that follows be part of the reading.

In the programme, list it in the order of service as “Scripture Reading — Revelation 14:13” with the reader’s name beside it. The full text is public domain and may be printed on the life-story or back page.