²⁹ Otherwise, 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? ³⁰ Why are we ^(A)in danger every hour? ³¹ I protest, brothers, by ^(B)my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^(C)I die every day! ³² What do I gain if, humanly speaking, ^(D)I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ^(E)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ^33 (F)Do not be deceived: ^(G)“Bad company ruins good morals.”^{[a] 34 (H)}Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For ^(I)some have no knowledge of God. ^(J)I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, ^(K)“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish person! ^(L)What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There 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. 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 (M)So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; ^(N)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 Thus it is written, ^(O)“The first man Adam became a living being”;^{[b] (P)}the last Adam became a ^(Q)life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ^47 (R)The first man was from the earth, ^(S)a man of dust; ^(T)the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, ^(U)so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just ^(V)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(W)we shall^[c] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

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

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^(AG)the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, ^(AH)who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (AI)Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in ^(AJ)the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord ^(AK)your labor is not in vain.

The Collection for the Saints

16 Now concerning^{[d] (AL)}the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. ² On ^(AM)the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, ^(AN)as he may prosper, ^(AO)so that there will be no collecting when I come. ³ And when I arrive, I will send ^(AP)those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

Plans for Travel

^5 (AQ)I will visit you after passing through ^(AR)Macedonia, for ^(AS)I intend to pass through Macedonia, ⁶ and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may ^(AT)help me on my journey, wherever I go. ⁷ For I do not want to see you now ^(AU)just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, ^(AV)if the Lord permits. ⁸ But I will stay in Ephesus until ^(AW)Pentecost, ⁹ for ^(AX)a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and ^(AY)there are many adversaries.

^10 (AZ)When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for ^(BA)he is doing ^(BB)the work of the Lord, as I am. ¹¹ So ^(BC)let no one despise him. ^(BD)Help him on his way ^(BE)in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Final Instructions

¹² Now concerning ^(BF)our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will^[e] to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

^13 (BG)Be watchful, ^(BH)stand firm in the faith, ^(BI)act like men, ^(BJ)be strong. ^14 (BK)Let all that you do be done in love.

¹⁵ Now I urge you, brothers^[f]—you know that ^(BL)the household^[g] of Stephanas were ^(BM)the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves ^(BN)to the service of the saints— ^16 (BO)be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. ¹⁷ I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for ^(BP)your absence, ¹⁸ for they ^(BQ)refreshed my spirit as well as yours. ^(BR)Give recognition to such people.

Greetings

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

²¹ I, Paul, write ^(BV)this greeting with my own hand. ²² If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be ^(BW)accursed. Our Lord, come!^{[h] 23 (BX)}The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. ²⁴ My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God, and ^(C)Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, ^(D)with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

^2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

^3 (F)Blessed be the ^(G)God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(H)God of all comfort, ^4 (I)who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in ^(J)Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.^{[a] 6 (K)}If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you ^(L)share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[b] of ^(M)the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us ^(N)rely not on ourselves ^(O)but on God ^(P)who raises the dead. ^10 (Q)He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. ^(R)On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. ^11 (S)You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf ^(T)for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul's Change of Plans

¹² For our boast is this, ^(U)the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity^[c] and ^(V)godly sincerity, ^(W)not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. ¹³ For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— ¹⁴ just as you did ^(X)partially understand us—that ^(Y)on the day of our Lord Jesus ^(Z)you will boast of us as ^(AA)we will boast of you.

¹⁵ Because I was sure of this, ^(AB)I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have ^(AC)a second ^(AD)experience of grace. ¹⁶ I wanted to visit you ^(AE)on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans ^(AF)according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? ¹⁸ As surely as ^(AG)God is faithful, ^(AH)our word to you has not been Yes and No. ¹⁹ For ^(AI)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, ^(AJ)Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but ^(AK)in him it is always Yes. ²⁰ For ^(AL)all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our ^(AM)Amen to God for his glory. ²¹ And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and ^(AN)has anointed us, ²² and who has also ^(AO)put his seal on us and ^(AP)given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.^[d]

²³ But ^(AQ)I call God to witness against me—it was ^(AR)to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we ^(AS)lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm ^(AT)in your faith.

2 For I made up my mind ^(AU)not to make another painful visit to you. ² For ^(AV)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³ And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, ^(AW)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴ For ^(AX)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

⁵ Now ^(AY)if anyone has caused pain, ^(AZ)he has caused it not to me, but ^(BA)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. ⁶ For such a one, ^(BB)this punishment by the majority is enough, ⁷ so ^(BC)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ For this is why I wrote, that I might ^(BD)test you and know ^(BE)whether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰ Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for ^(BF)we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

¹² When ^(BG)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^(BH)a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ my spirit ^(BI)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But ^(BJ)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(BK)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(BL)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(BM)those who are being saved and among ^(BN)those who are perishing, ^16 (BO)to one a fragrance from death to death, ^(BP)to the other a fragrance from life to life. ^(BQ)Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.