15Now I urge you, brothers[a]you know thatthe household[b]of Stephanas werethe first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselvesto the service of the saints16be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.17I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up foryour absence,18for theyrefreshed my spirit as well as yours.Give recognition to such people.

19The churches of Asia send you greetings.Aquila and Prisca, together withthe church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.20All the brothers send you greetings.Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21I, Paul, writethis greeting with my own hand.22If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him beaccursed. Our Lord, come![c]23The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.24My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

10When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, forhe is doingthe work of the Lord, as I am.11Solet no one despise him.Help him on his wayin peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

12Now concerningour brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will[a]to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

13Be watchful,stand firm in the faith,act like men,be strong.14Let all that you do be done in love.

5I will visit you after passing throughMacedonia, forI intend to pass through Macedonia,6and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you mayhelp me on my journey, wherever I go.7For I do not want to see you nowjust in passing. I hope to spend some time with you,if the Lord permits.8But I will stay in Ephesus untilPentecost,9fora wide door for effective work has opened to me, andthere are many adversaries.

1Now concerning[a]the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.2Onthe first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up,as he may prosper,so that there will be no collecting when I come.3And when I arrive, I will sendthose whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.4If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

50I tell you this, brothers:flesh and bloodcannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.51Behold! I tell you a mystery.We shall not all sleep,but we shall all be changed,52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. Forthe trumpet will sound, andthe dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, andthis mortal body must put on immortality.54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

Death is swallowed up in victory.55O death, where is your victory?O death, where is your sting?

56The sting of death is sin, andthe power of sin is the law.57But thanks be to God,who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding inthe work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lordyour labor is not in vain.

35But someone will ask,How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?36You foolish person!What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.37And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.38But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.39For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.41There 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.

42So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.43It is sown in dishonor;it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.45Thus it is written,The first man Adam became a living being;[a]the last Adam became alife-giving spirit.46But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.47The first man was from the earth,a man of dust;the second man is from heaven.48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven,so also are those who are of heaven.49Justas we have borne the image of the man of dust,we shall[b]also bear the image of the man of heaven.

29Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?30Why are wein danger every hour?31I protest, brothers, bymy pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,I die every day!32What do I gain if, humanly speaking,I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised,Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.33Do not be deceived:Bad company ruins good morals.[a]34Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. Forsome have no knowledge of God.I say this to your shame.

20But in factChrist has been raised from the dead,the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.21For asby a man came death,by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.22Foras in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, thenat his comingthose who belong to Christ.24Then comes the end, when he deliversthe kingdom to God the Father after destroyingevery rule and every authority and power.25For he must reignuntil he has put all his enemies under his feet.26The last enemy to bedestroyed is death.27ForGod[a]has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says, all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.28Whenall things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, thatGod may be all in all.

12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?13But if there is no resurrection of the dead,then not even Christ has been raised.14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God thathe raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile andyou are still in your sins.18Then those also whohave fallen asleep in Christ have perished.19If in Christ we have hope[a]in this life only,we are of all people most to be pitied.

1Now I would remind you, brothers,[a]of the gospelI preached to you, which you received,in which you stand,2and by whichyou are being saved, if youhold fast to the word I preached to youunless you believed in vain.

3ForI delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ diedfor our sinsin accordance with the Scriptures,4that he was buried, that he was raisedon the third dayin accordance with the Scriptures,5and thathe appeared to Cephas, thento the twelve.6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.7Then he appeared toJames, thento all the apostles.8Last of all, as to one untimely born,he appeared also to me.9ForI am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, becauseI persecuted the church of God.10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary,I worked harder than any of them,though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.