Readings
Readings for a funeral program
A reading is often printed on the back of the program, or read aloud during the service by a relative or a friend. Every reading here is in the public domain in the United States, and each shows its length, so you can see what will fit.
Scripture
From the King James Version.
- 1 Corinthians 13 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, 13 · 6 verses
- 2 Timothy 4 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 2 Timothy 4:7–8 · 2 verses
- Ecclesiastes 3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 · 8 verses
- Isaiah 40 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. Isaiah 40:28–31 · 4 verses
- John 14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1–6 · 6 verses
- Lamentations 3 It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. Lamentations 3:22–26 · 5 verses
- Matthew 5 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3–10 · 8 verses
- Psalm 23 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1–6 · 6 verses
- Psalm 121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Psalm 121:1–8 · 8 verses
- Revelation 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Revelation 21:1–4 · 4 verses
- Romans 8 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35, 37–39 · 4 verses
Hymns
- Abide with Me Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide; Henry Francis Lyte · 32 lines
- Amazing Grace Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) John Newton · 24 lines
- Eternal Father, Strong to Save Eternal Father, strong to save, William Whiting · 24 lines
- In the Garden I come to the garden alone, C. Austin Miles · 19 lines
- It Is Well with My Soul When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, Horatio G. Spafford · 18 lines
- Nearer, My God, to Thee Nearer, my God, to thee, Sarah Flower Adams · 35 lines
- Rock of Ages Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Augustus Montague Toplady · 24 lines
- Shall We Gather at the River Shall we gather at the river Robert Lowry · 24 lines
- Softly and Tenderly Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling. Will L. Thompson · 20 lines
- The Old Rugged Cross On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, George Bennard · 20 lines
- What a Friend We Have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus, Joseph M. Scriven · 24 lines
Poems
- Because I could not stop for Death Because I could not stop for Death, Emily Dickinson · 20 lines
- Crossing the Bar Sunset and evening star, Alfred Lord Tennyson · 16 lines
- Death, be not proud Death, be not proud, though some have called thee John Donne · 14 lines
- Death is nothing at all But, then, there is another aspect altogether which death can wear for us. It is that which first comes to us, perhaps, as we look down upon the quiet face, so cold and white, of one who has been very near and dear to us. There it lies in possession of its own secret. It knows it all. So we seem to feel. And what the face says in its sweet silence to us as a last message from the one whom we loved is: “Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!” Henry Scott Holland · 313 words
- For the Fallen With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, Laurence Binyon · 28 lines
- Hope is the thing with feathers Hope is the thing with feathers Emily Dickinson · 12 lines
- In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow John McCrae · 15 lines
- Remember Remember me when I am gone away, Christina Rossetti · 14 lines
- Requiem Under the wide and starry sky, Robert Louis Stevenson · 8 lines
- Up-Hill Does the road wind up-hill all the way? Christina Rossetti · 16 lines
Readings that are not here
Three readings families often ask for are not here. "The Dash" is under copyright: its official site, thedashpoem.com, gives permission for a free one-time use in a printed funeral or memorial program, on terms that include the credit line it asks for, and offers funeral homes a license of their own, so read them there, since they are its owner's to change. Who wrote "Footprints" and "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" has never been settled: each has more than one claimed author, so we cannot show either is in the public domain, and we could not tell which claim is right.