Elijah Announces Famine

17 Now Elijah^(A) the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers,^[a](B) said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives,^(C) I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”^(D)

² Then a revelation from the Lord came to him: ³ “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide^(E) yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. ⁴ You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens^(F) to provide for you there.”

⁵ So he did what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived by the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening,^(G) and he drank from the wadi. ⁷ After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Elijah and the Widow

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Get up, go to Zarephath^(H) that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.” ¹⁰ So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.”^{(I) 11} As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”

¹² But she said, “As the Lord your God lives,^(J) I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil^(K) in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”^(L)

¹³ Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, ¹⁴ for this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.”^(M)

¹⁵ So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days.^{(N) 16} The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through^[b] Elijah.

The Widow’s Son Raised

¹⁷ After this, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. His illness became very severe until no breath remained in him.^{(O) 18} She said to Elijah, “Man of God,^(P) what do we have in common?^(Q) Have you come to remind me of my guilt^(R) and to kill my son?”

¹⁹ But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upper room^(S) where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord^(T) and said, “My Lord God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times.^(U) He cried out to the Lord and said, “My Lord God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”

²² So the Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.^{(V) 23} Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother.^(W) Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive.”

²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God^(X) and the Lord’s word from your mouth is true.”^(Y)

Resurrection Essential to the Gospel

15 Now brothers, I want to clarify^[a] for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand^(A) on it. ² You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose.^{[b](B) 3} For I passed on to you^(C) as most important what I also received:

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles,^(P) unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted^(Q) the church of God. ¹⁰ But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.^{(R) 11} Therefore, whether it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

Resurrection Essential to the Faith

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,^(S) how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?^{(T) 13} But 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 without foundation, and so is your faith.^{[d] 15} In addition, we are found to be false witnesses^(U) about God, because we have testified^(V) about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ^(W) have also perished. ¹⁹ If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours

²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits^(X) of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death^(Y) came through a man,^(Z) the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.^{(AA) 22} For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.^{(AB) 23} But each in his own order:^(AC) Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end,^(AD) when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father,^(AE) when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power.^{(AF) 25} For He must reign^(AG) until He puts all His enemies under His feet.^{(AH) 26} The last enemy to be abolished is death.^{(AI) 27} For God has put everything under His feet.^(AJ)[e] But when it says “everything” is put under Him, it is obvious that He who puts everything under Him is the exception. ²⁸ And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son^(AK) Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.^(AL)

Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience

²⁹ Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?^{[f] 30} Why are we in danger every hour? ³¹ I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die every day!^{(AM) 32} If I fought wild animals in Ephesus^(AN) with only human hope,^[g] what good did that do me?^[h](AO) If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.^{(AP)[i] 33} Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”^{[j] 34} Come to your senses^[k](AQ) and stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.^(AR)

The Nature of the Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” ³⁶ Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life^(AS) unless it dies. ³⁷ And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the future body, but only a seed,^[l] perhaps of wheat or another grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He wants,^(AT) and to each of the seeds its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh^(AU) is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor^(AV) of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. ⁴¹ There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for one star differs from another star in splendor. ⁴² So it is with the resurrection of the dead:

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;^(BA)[m] the last Adam^(BB) became a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

Victorious Resurrection

⁵⁰ Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh^(BG) and blood^(BH) cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Listen! I am telling you a mystery:

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work,^(BR) knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.