Hosea 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
A Call to Repentance
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord,
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.(A)
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”(B)
Impenitence of Israel and Judah
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.(C)
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my[a] judgment goes forth as the light.(D)
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.(E)
7 But at[b] Adam they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait[c] for someone,
so the priests are banded together;[d]
they murder on the road to Shechem;
they commit a monstrous crime.(F)
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim’s prostitution is there; Israel is defiled.(G)
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.
When I would restore the fortunes of my people,(H)
1 Timothy 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Instructions concerning Prayer
2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.(A) 3 This is right and acceptable before God our Savior,(B) 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.(C) 5 For
there is one God;
there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,(D)
6 who gave himself a ransom for all
—this was attested at the right time.(E) 7 For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth;[a] I am not lying), a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.(F)
8 I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument, 9 also that the women should dress themselves in moderate clothing with reverence and self-control, not with their hair braided or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, 10 but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. 11 Let a woman[b] learn in silence with full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman[c] to teach or to have authority over a man;[d] she is to keep silent. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve,(G) 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.(H) 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
1 Corinthians 15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Resurrection of Christ
15 Now I want you to understand, brothers and sisters, the good news[a] that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,(A) 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.(B)
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures(C) 4 and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures(D) 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.(E) 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.[b] 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.(F) 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.(G) 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.(H) 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been 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.(I) 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.(J) 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died[c] in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.[d](K) 21 For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human,(L) 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power.(M) 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.(N) 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.(O) 27 For “God[e] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him.(P) 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.(Q)
29 Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
30 And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour?(R) 31 I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord.(S) 32 If I fought with wild animals at Ephesus with a merely human perspective, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”(T)
33 Do not be deceived:
“Bad company ruins good morals.”
34 Sober up, as you rightly ought to, and sin no more, for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.(U)
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.(V) 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, 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 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that 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; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.(W) 44 It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.(X) 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is[f] from heaven.(Y) 48 As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will[g] also bear the image of the one of heaven.(Z)
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.(AA) 51 Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,[h] but we will all be changed,(AB) 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.(AC) 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”(AD)
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.(AE) 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.(AF)
2 Corinthians 11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Paul and the False Apostles
11 I wish you would put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, do put up[a] with me!(A) 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.(B) 3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure[b] devotion to Christ.(C) 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.(D) 5 I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.(E) 6 Even if I am untrained in speech, I certainly am not with respect to knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you.(F)
7 Did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed God’s good news[c] to you free of charge?(G) 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for my needs were supplied by the brothers who came from Macedonia. So I refrained and will continue to refrain from burdening you in any way.(H) 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.(I) 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!(J)
12 And what I do I will also continue to do, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about. 13 For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.(K) 14 And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds.(L)
Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle
16 I repeat, let no one think that I am a fool, but if you do, then accept me as a fool, so that I, too, may boast a little. 17 What I am saying in regard to this boastful undertaking, I am saying not with the Lord’s authority but as a fool;(M) 18 since many boast according to human standards,[d] I will also boast. 19 For you gladly put up with fools, being wise yourselves! 20 For you put up with it when someone makes slaves of you or preys upon you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or gives you a slap in the face. 21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!
But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.(N) 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.(O) 23 Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.(P) 24 Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.(Q) 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea;(R) 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters;(S) 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food,[e] cold and naked.(T) 28 And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant?(U)
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.(V) 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.(W) 32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to[f] seize me,(X) 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall[g] and escaped from his hands.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.