1 Corinthians 15 Cross References - Common

¹ Now I would remind you, brethren, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. ³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ After that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of themyet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. ¹² Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and so is your faith. ¹⁵ More than that, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since by a man came death, by a man came also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then, at his coming, those who belong to him. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ "For God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection under him," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him. ²⁸ When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things under him, that God may be all in all. ²⁹ Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are people baptized for them? ³⁰ Why are we also in danger every hour? ³¹ I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day. ³² If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." ³³ Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." ³⁴ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. ³⁵ But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" ³⁶ You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of birds, and another of fish. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. ⁴² So is it with the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. ⁵⁰ Now I tell you this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then will come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." ⁵⁵ "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

¹⁶ And these likewise are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, but endure for only a time. Then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸ And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good soil, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit thirtyfold, sixty, and a hundred."

⁴⁸ He who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will condemn him on the last day.

⁴¹ So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

¹ Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

⁴ And every Sabbath he was reasoning in the synagogue, and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. ⁵ When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

¹⁶ on that day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

² through whom we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of the glory of God.

⁴ I thank my God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge ⁶ even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you eagerly wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; ⁸ who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

² For I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, ⁴ and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. ⁶ Yet we do speak a wisdom among the mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away. ⁷ But we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and which God destined for our glory before the ages.

⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ After that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of themyet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

²⁴ Not that we lord it over your faith; but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel ⁷ which is really not another gospel; but there are some who are disturbing you, and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we preached to you, let him be accursed! ⁹ As we have said before, so I say again now, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be accursed! ¹⁰ Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. ¹¹ For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. ¹² For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁶ You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit;

¹³ And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

¹ Finally, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and more.

⁶ Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who is living in idleness and not according to the tradition which you received from us.

¹² With the help of Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.

³¹ Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

¹³ Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

²² Therefore consider the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. ¹² Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹⁴ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and so is your faith.

¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,

¹ Working together with him, then, we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vainif it really was in vain?

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God

²³ if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

¹⁵ So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and the grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

¹ Therefore we must pay more careful attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

⁶ but Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold fast to our confidence and the hope of which we boast.

¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ if we hold our first confidence firm to the end,

¹⁴ Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful;

¹⁴ What good is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can such faith save him?

¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

¹⁸ "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn him to death, ¹⁹ and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."

²⁸ For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

²⁶ Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and enter his glory?" ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

⁴⁶ And he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

¹⁸ But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

²² To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen: ²³ that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."

²⁵ whom God put forward as an atoning sacrifice by his blood, to be received through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over sins committed beforehand;

²⁵ who was delivered to death for our sins and was raised for our justification.

¹ This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

² I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

⁴ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

¹² For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for usfor it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

² and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

¹ For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

³ Because of this he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

¹¹ And every priest stands daily at his service, offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when he had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

¹¹ seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

¹⁸ For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit;

² And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.

¹⁹ and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."

⁵⁷ And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ When Josnt took the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.

⁶³ and said, "Sir, we remember how that deceiver said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise again.' ⁶⁴ Therefore order that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead.' So the last deception will be worse than the first."

¹ Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

³¹ For he was teaching his disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and when he is killed, after three days he will rise."

³³ "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; ³⁴ and they will mock him, and spit on him, and scourge him, and kill him. And after three days he will rise."

⁴³ Josnt of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Pilate marveled that he was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if he was already dead. ⁴⁵ And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ Then he bought fine linen, took him down, and wrapped him in the linen. And he laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

² And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³ And they asked each other, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" ⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, though it was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were alarmed. ⁶ But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."

²² saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised."

³² For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. ³³ They will scourge him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise again."

⁵⁰ who had not consented to their decision and deed. He came from of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵¹ This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵² Then he took it down and wrapped it in linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever yet been laid. ⁵³ It was the Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵ And as they were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but is risen! Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.'"

²⁶ Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and enter his glory?"

⁴⁶ And he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ²⁰ The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" ²¹ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. ²² When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

³⁸ After this Josnt of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.

³ To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

²³ this man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. ²⁴ But God raised him up, having loosed the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. ²⁵ For David says concerning him, 'I saw the Lord always before me; for he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. ²⁶ Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh also will live in hope, ²⁷ because you will not abandon my soul to hades, nor let your Holy One see decay. ²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' ²⁹ "Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to hades, nor did his flesh see decay. ³² This Jesus God raised up again, and of that we are all witnesses. ³³ Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear.

²⁹ When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead; ³¹ and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. ³² And we preach to you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, ³³ he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you.' ³⁴ As for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to decay, he spoke in this way: 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.' ³⁵ Therefore he also says in another Psalm, 'You will not let your Holy One see decay.' ³⁶ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers and saw decay; ³⁷ but he whom God raised did not see decay.

³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given proof to all men by raising him from the dead."

⁴ We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since by a man came death, by a man came also the resurrection of the dead.

¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant,

¹⁴ Later he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

³⁴ saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. ³⁶ As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." ³⁷ But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. ³⁸ And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your hearts? ³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." ⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate in their presence. ⁴⁴ Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds, so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ And he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high."

⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).

¹⁹ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you." ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." ²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe." ²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you!"

² until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after he had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. ³ To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. ⁴ And while staying with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," he said, "you heard of from me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but before many days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." ⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" ⁷ He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth." ⁹ And after he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. ¹¹ They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven." ¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. ¹³ And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying; Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. ¹⁴ All these with one mind devoted themselves to prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

⁴¹ not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

¹² What I mean is this, that each one of you says, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ."

²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future; all belong to you,

⁵ Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee; and there they will see me."

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.

⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."

⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

³⁶ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers and saw decay;

¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

¹³ But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

¹⁵ For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

⁴ and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

³³ So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,

³⁶ As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

² until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after he had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. ³ To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. ⁴ And while staying with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," he said, "you heard of from me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but before many days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." ⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" ⁷ He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth." ⁹ And after he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. ¹¹ They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven." ¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.

¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Tell this to James and to the brethren." Then he left and went to another place.

³ Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" ⁵ And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."

¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

⁹ And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

¹⁴ Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.

¹⁸ and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'

¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness to the things which you have seen of me, and also to the things in which I will appear to you;

¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

¹ I must go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. ³ And I know that this manwhether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows ⁴ was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, which a man is not permitted to tell. ⁵ On behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. ⁶ Though if I should boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

³ But Saul began ravaging the church, and, entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

¹ Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" ⁵ And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do." ⁷ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. ¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, ¹² and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." ¹³ But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints at Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight. And he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus.

⁴ I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women, ⁵ as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

⁹ I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only shut up many of the saints in prison, by authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

⁵ I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.

¹¹ I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not in the least inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

¹³ For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it;

²³ they only heard it said, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."

⁷ Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given me by the working of his power. ⁸ To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

¹³ Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord was overflowing for me, with the faith and love that are found in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ It is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinnersof whom I am the foremost.

²⁰ for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

¹ I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Certainly not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵ So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ And if it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.

¹⁷ Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸ For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ And so I have made it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another man's foundation,

⁷ For who regards you as different? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

⁵ Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves; but our competence is from God,

¹² For we do not dare to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. ¹³ But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has apportioned to us, a field that reaches even to you. ¹⁴ For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you; we were the first to come even as far as you with the gospel of Christ. ¹⁵ We do not go beyond limits by boasting in other men's labors, but our hope is that as your faith grows, our sphere among you may be greatly enlarged, ¹⁶ so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast of work already done in another man's territory.

²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better oneI am talking like a madmanin far more labors, in far more imprisonments, with more beatings, and often in danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the open sea. ²⁶ I have been on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger at sea, and in danger from false brethren; ²⁷ I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸ Besides such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I do not inwardly burn? ³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

⁸ (for he who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),

⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God

¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

²⁸ We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this end I labor, striving with all his energy, which so mightily works within me.

¹⁵ It is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinnersof whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.

² For I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

³² Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject."

⁸ For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

⁸ Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and so is your faith. ¹⁵ More than that, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.

¹⁷ comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. ¹⁸ who have gone astray from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and upset the faith of some.

²⁵ Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live; ²⁶ and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

²⁴ but for us also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered to death for our sins and was raised for our justification.

¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.

²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So then death is at work in us, but life in you. ¹³ Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

¹ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on the things above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

⁸ In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

³ Blessed be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

¹⁸ and the Living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore! And I have the keys of death and Hades.

⁹ In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'"

¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

² I went up because of a revelation; and I set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who were of reputation, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.

²⁶ If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.

²⁰ But are you willing to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is useless?

²⁴ But God raised him up, having loosed the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.

³² This Jesus God raised up again, and of that we are all witnesses.

¹⁰ be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands before you healed.

³³ And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

³⁹ We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰ but God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen, ⁴¹ not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

³⁰ But God raised him from the dead; ³¹ and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. ³² And we preach to you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, ³³ he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you.'

²¹ testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸ Why not say as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say "Let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just.

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;

²¹ Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come." ²² Then the Jews said, "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?" ²³ He said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴ Therefore I told to you that you would die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins."

³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and through him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

¹⁰ For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who is also interceding for us.

²³ The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; ²⁴ but he holds his priesthood forever, because he continues for ever. ²⁵ Therefore he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ He does not need, like those high priests, to offer up daily sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because he did this once for all when he offered up himself. ²⁸ For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

²² Indeed, under the law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. ²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. ²⁵ Nor was it that he should offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own. ²⁶ For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; ⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. ⁷ Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,' as it is written of me in the roll of the book." ⁸ When he said above, "You did not desire, nor did you take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), ⁹ then he said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

²¹ Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

⁶ After that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

¹³ But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them."

²¹ Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ²² And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they persecute you in one city, flee to another. For truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ²⁴ "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

⁹ Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

¹⁴ And the ones that fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

³⁴ "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly like a trap.

² They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage! I have overcome the world."

²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."

⁹ For, I think that God has exhibited us apostles last of all, like men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. ¹¹ To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and we are poorly clothed, and roughly treated, and homeless; ¹² and we toil, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; ¹³ when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life! ⁴ So if you have disputes about such matters, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church?

¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him, you also have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having also believed, you were sealed in him with the promised Holy Spirit,

³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹² For this reason I also suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

⁴ No soldier in active service gets entangled in civilian affairs, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

¹² Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

²³ that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."

²³ But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then, at his coming, those who belong to him.

¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might have the first place in everything.

²⁵ Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live;

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all men sinned. ¹³ (For sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the gift following many trespasses brings justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.)

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom he will. ²² For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. ²⁵ Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, ²⁷ and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come forth those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all men sinned. ¹³ (For sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the gift following many trespasses brings justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.) ¹⁸ So then, as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Law came in, that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

⁴⁵ So it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

²³ and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.

⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

⁷ You look at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.

²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

¹⁹ For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming?

¹⁵ For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

²² And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

²⁷ "All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Therefore as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

¹³ But he who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

²² All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

³⁵ The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.

³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,

³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

¹⁵ which he will bring about at the proper timehe who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

⁷ The end of all things is near; therefore be clear minded and sober for your prayers.

⁴⁴ 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, till I put your enemies under your feet"'?

³⁶ David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand till I put your enemies under your feet."'

⁴² For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, ⁴³ till I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."'

³⁴ For David did not ascend into heaven, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand,

²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things for the church,

¹³ But to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a stool for your feet"?

¹² But when he had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time until his enemies be made a stool for his feet.

³⁶ nor can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

⁵⁵ "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

¹⁰ but has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

⁴ he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."

²⁰ which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

⁸ and put everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subject to him.

¹² But when he had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers subject to him.

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

²⁸ You have heard me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for the Father is greater than I.

³ But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

⁶ There are varieties of working, but the same God who works all of them in all men.

²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

¹¹ Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all, and in all.

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. ¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name written on him which no one knows but himself. ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses, and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he treads the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶ And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. ¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he cried to all the birds that fly in midheaven, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." ¹⁹ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits on the horse and against his army. ²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with sulfur. ²¹ And the rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

² And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, ³ and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any more, until the thousand years were ended. After these things he must be released for a short time. ⁴ Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was given. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony to Jesus and because of the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

¹⁰ And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. ¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

²² But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."

³ Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.

³² If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

³⁶ As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

³¹ I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day.

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So then death is at work in us, but life in you.

⁹ as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed;

²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better oneI am talking like a madmanin far more labors, in far more imprisonments, with more beatings, and often in danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the open sea. ²⁶ I have been on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger at sea, and in danger from false brethren; ²⁷ I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

¹¹ But if I, brethren, still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.

²³ except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.

³⁶ As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

¹² For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with holiness and godly sincerity, not in worldly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and still more toward you.

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better oneI am talking like a madmanin far more labors, in far more imprisonments, with more beatings, and often in danger of death.

³ For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh,

⁹ For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you in return for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God,

²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'

¹⁹ They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

¹ While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

²³ About that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. ²⁵ These he gathered together, with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. ²⁶ And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. ²⁷ Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence." ²⁸ When they heard this, they were enraged and began crying out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" ²⁹ The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia. ³⁰ Paul wanted to go in among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. ³¹ Some of the Asiarchs also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. ³² Now some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of the people did not know why they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, wishing to make a defense to the people. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all with one voice shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" ³⁵ And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? ³⁶ Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸ If then Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you want anything further, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰ As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it." ⁴¹ After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for holiness.

⁸ For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He delivered us from so deadly a peril, and he will deliver us; on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

¹⁵ To give a human example, brethren: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.

¹² But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction with them,

¹⁰ But these men revile whatever they do not understand; and the things that they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals do, by these things they are destroyed.

⁴ And Jesus answered them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.

¹¹ And many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

²⁴ For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?

⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts,

⁷ Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have gone astray from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and upset the faith of some.

¹⁵ See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble, and by it many become defiled;

² And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.

¹⁸ For speaking out arrogant words of vanity, they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole worldhe was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

⁸ and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. ⁹ If anyone has an ear, let him hear. ¹⁰ If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the endurance and faith of the saints. ¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon. ¹² He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. ¹³ He performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men. ¹⁴ And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which he was given power to do in the presence of the beast. He ordered them to make an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁴ Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you are well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse may happen to you."

¹¹ She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more."

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a base mind, to do what ought not to be done.

¹¹ And do this, knowing the hour, that now it is full time for you to wake from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

⁵ I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between his brethren,

⁷ However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, being accustomed to idols, eat food as really sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

¹⁴ For this reason it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

⁵ not in the passion of lust like the heathen, who do not know God;

¹¹ About this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of God's word. You need milk, not solid food;

²⁹ But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, "How can this be?"

¹⁰ They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"

¹⁹ You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"

³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of birds, and another of fish. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. ⁴² So is it with the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. ⁵⁰ Now I tell you this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁴⁰ You foolish ones! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?

²⁰ But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have prepared?'

²⁵ And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

¹⁵ Be careful, then, how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise,

²⁶ And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the earth produces grainfirst the blade, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

³⁵ But those who are considered worthy to attain that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, ³⁶ nor can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

²⁷ because you will not abandon my soul to hades, nor let your Holy One see decay.

³¹ he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to hades, nor did his flesh see decay.

²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

²¹ because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.

⁵⁰ Now I tell you this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then will come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

⁴ to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, kept in heaven for you,

²⁴ Jesus said to them, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

¹⁴ By his power God raised the Lord, and he will also raise us up.

⁴ For he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God for you.

¹⁴ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

¹⁰ that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death;

⁴ When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

¹⁹ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you!"

⁵⁰ Now I tell you this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. The water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom he will.

³³ For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me.

⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one shall snatch them out of my hand.

⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

¹⁹ A little while longer, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

² as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

¹⁵ but killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all men sinned. ¹³ (For sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁷ For if, by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.)

²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.

¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although your body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have touched, concerning the Word of life, ² the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us ³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.

⁶ Then he said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life without cost.

¹ Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb,

¹⁷ The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wishes take the water of life without price.

⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

²² You were taught, with regard to your former manner of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful lusts; ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

²³ "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."

¹⁶ And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

¹¹ For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven, but he who came from heaven the Son of Man.

³¹ "He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth belongs to the earth, and of the earth he speaks. He who comes from heaven is above all.

³⁶ You know the word which he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).

⁴⁵ So it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

¹ For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

⁹ (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean except that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is also he who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) ¹¹ And he gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

¹⁶ By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: he was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

²¹ For since by a man came death, by a man came also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

³ Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" ⁵ Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

¹³ "Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food"but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

²⁹ I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short; so that from now on, those who have wives should live as though they had none,

⁶ The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

¹⁷ What I mean is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

¹⁷ Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds,

⁴ I say this so that no one may delude you with fine-sounding arguments.

⁷ But we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and which God destined for our glory before the ages.

¹ This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

² If I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

³ that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

³² This is a profound mystery; but I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

²⁵ Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice

⁴² So is it with the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised imperishable;

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the blasts of the other trumpets of the three angels who are about to sound!"

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

⁷ to those who by patience in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life;

¹² The night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

² Here indeed we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³ so that when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

²⁴ and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you obey its passions.

¹¹ For we who live are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

¹⁰ when he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believedbecause our testimony to you was believed.

¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

²³ And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom.

⁵ And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁰ They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power to hurt men for five months lies in their tails.

¹³ The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

²¹ Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come."

²⁴ Therefore I told to you that you would die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins."

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no flesh will be justified in his sight by works of the law, for through the law comes knowledge of sin.

¹⁵ because the law brings wrath, for where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all men sinned. ¹³ (For sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted when there is no law.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

²⁰ Law came in, that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

⁵ While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now, by dying to what once held us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. ⁷ What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." ⁸ But sin, finding opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetous desire. For apart from the law sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment which was to bring life I found to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. ¹³ Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But it was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful beyond measure.

¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them." ¹¹ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith." ¹² But the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "He who does them shall live by them." ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for usfor it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"

²⁷ And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment,

³⁵ Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.

²⁵ Thanks be to Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

¹¹ You also must help us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the worldour faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

¹¹ They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even to the death.

² And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea of glass, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps of God ³ and they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the ages!

⁴⁰ "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. ⁴¹ He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. ⁴² And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."

³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right hand, 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

²⁸ Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" ²⁹ Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

⁸ Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

¹⁰ Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you with nothing to fear, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am.

¹ Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

¹¹ I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

⁹ Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,

¹¹ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

³⁰ because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.

¹⁷ Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.

⁵ For even though I am absent in flesh, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

⁷ rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with thanksgiving.

³ so that no one would be unsettled by these afflictions. You yourselves know that we have been destined for this.

⁵ For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.

¹² and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you,

³ We ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, zealous for good deeds.

¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.

¹⁵ Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶ Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

²¹ equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

⁴ By these he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and become partakers of the divine nature. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge, ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, ⁷ and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless.

¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your own steadfastness. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.