1 Corinthians 13-16
Complete Jewish Bible
13 I may speak in the tongues of men, even angels;
but if I lack love, I have become merely
blaring brass or a cymbal clanging.
2 I may have the gift of prophecy,
I may fathom all mysteries, know all things,
have all faith — enough to move mountains;
but if I lack love, I am nothing.
3 I may give away everything that I own,
I may even hand over my body to be burned;
but if I lack love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful,
5 not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered,
and it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not gloat over other people’s sins
but takes its delight in the truth.
7 Love always bears up, always trusts,
always hopes, always endures.
8 Love never ends; but prophecies will pass,
tongues will cease, knowledge will pass.
9 For our knowledge is partial, and our prophecy partial;
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
thought like a child, argued like a child;
now that I have become a man,
I have finished with childish ways.
12 For now we see obscurely in a mirror,
but then it will be face to face.
Now I know partly; then I will know fully,
just as God has fully known me.
13 But for now, three things last —
trust, hope, love;
and the greatest of these is love.
14 Pursue love!
However, keep on eagerly seeking the things of the Spirit; and especially seek to be able to prophesy. 2 For someone speaking in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, because no one can understand, since he is uttering mysteries in the power of the Spirit. 3 But someone prophesying is speaking to people, edifying, encouraging and comforting them. 4 A person speaking in a tongue does edify himself, but a person prophesying edifies the congregation. 5 I wish you would all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you would all prophesy. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless someone gives an interpretation, so that the congregation can be edified.
6 Brothers, suppose I come to you now speaking in tongues. How can I be of benefit to you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 Even with lifeless musical instruments, such as a flute or a harp, how will anyone recognize the melody if one note can’t be distinguished from another? 8 And if the bugle gives an unclear sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 It’s the same with you: how will anyone know what you are saying unless you use your tongue to produce intelligible speech? You will be talking to the air! 10 There are undoubtedly all kinds of sounds in the world, and none is altogether meaningless; 11 but if I don’t know what a person’s sounds mean, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12 Likewise with you: since you eagerly seek the things of the Spirit, seek especially what will help in edifying the congregation.
13 Therefore someone who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit does pray, but my mind is unproductive. 15 So, what about it? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 16 Otherwise, if you are giving thanks with your spirit, how will someone who has not yet received much instruction be able to say, “Amen,” when you have finished giving thanks, since he doesn’t know what you are saying? 17 For undoubtedly you are giving thanks very nicely, but the other person is not being edified. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, 19 but in a congregation meeting I would rather say five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue!
20 Brothers, don’t be children in your thinking. In evil, be like infants; but in your thinking, be grown-up. 21 In the Torah it is written,
“By other tongues,
by the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people.
But even then they will not listen to me,”
says Adonai.[a]
22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole congregation comes together with everybody speaking in tongues, and uninstructed people or unbelievers come in, won’t they say you’re crazy? 24 But if you all prophesy, and some unbeliever or uninstructed person enters, he is convicted of sin by all, he is brought under judgment by all, 25 and the secrets of his heart are laid bare; so he falls on his face and worships God, saying, “God is really here among you!”
26 What is our conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, let everyone be ready with a psalm or a teaching or a revelation, or ready to use his gift of tongues or give an interpretation; but let everything be for edification. 27 If the gift of tongues is exercised, let it be by two or at most three, and each in turn; and let someone interpret. 28 And if there is no one present who can interpret, let the people who speak in tongues keep silent when the congregation meets — they can speak to themselves and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, while the others weigh what is said. 30 And if something is revealed to a prophet who is sitting down, let the first one be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, with the result that all will learn something and all will be encouraged. 32 Also, the prophets’ spirits are under the prophets’ control; 33 for God is not a God of unruliness but of shalom.
As in all the congregations of God’s people, 34 let the wives remain silent when the congregation meets; they are certainly not permitted to speak out. Rather, let them remain subordinate, as also the Torah says; 35 and if there is something they want to know, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for a woman to speak out in a congregational meeting.
36 Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or is endowed with the Spirit, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is a command of the Lord. 38 But if someone doesn’t recognize this, then let him remain unrecognized.
39 So, my brothers, eagerly seek to prophesy; and do not forbid speaking in tongues; 40 but let all things be done in a proper and orderly way.
15 Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand, 2 and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain. 3 For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 4 and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 5 and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve; 6 and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Later he was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries; 8 and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time. 9 For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God. 10 But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me. 11 Anyhow, whether I or they, this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed.
12 But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised; 14 and if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also your trust is in vain; 15 furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either; 17 and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins. 18 Also, if this is the case, those who died in union with the Messiah are lost. 19 If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone.
20 But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. 22 For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of his coming; 24 then the culmination, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after having put an end to every rulership, yes, to every authority and power. 25 For he has to rule until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be done away with will be death, 27 for “He put everything in subjection under his feet.”[b] But when it says that “everything” has been subjected, obviously the word does not include God, who is himself the one subjecting everything to the Messiah. 28 Now when everything has been subjected to the Son, then he will subject himself to God, who subjected everything to him; so that God may be everything in everyone.
29 Were it otherwise, what would the people accomplish who are immersed on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not actually raised, why are people immersed for them? 30 For that matter, we ourselves — why do we keep facing danger hour by hour? 31 Brothers, by the right to be proud which the Messiah Yeshua our Lord gives me, I solemnly tell you that I die every day. 32 If my fighting with “wild beasts” in Ephesus was done merely on a human basis, what do I gain by it? If dead people are not raised, we might as well live by the saying, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”[c] 33 Don’t be fooled. “Bad company ruins good character.” 34 Come to your senses! Live righteously and stop sinning! There are some people who lack knowledge of God — I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have?” 36 Stupid! When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive unless it first dies. 37 Also, what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else; 38 but God gives it the body he intended for it; and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all living matter is the same living matter; on the contrary, there is one kind for human beings, another kind of living matter for animals, another for birds and another for fish. 40 Further, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the beauty of heavenly bodies is one thing, while the beauty of earthly bodies is something else. 41 The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon another, the stars yet another; indeed, each star has its own individual kind of beauty.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. When the body is “sown,” it decays; when it is raised, it cannot decay. 43 When sown, it is without dignity; when raised, it will be beautiful. When sown, it is weak; when raised, it will be strong. 44 When sown, it is an ordinary human body; when raised, it will be a body controlled by the Spirit. If there is an ordinary human body, there is also a body controlled by the Spirit. 45 In fact, the Tanakh says so: Adam, the first man, became a living human being;[d] but the last “Adam” has become a life-giving Spirit. 46 Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards. 47 The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven; 49 and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven.
50 Let me say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God, nor can something that decays share in what does not decay. 51 Look, I will tell you a secret — not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! 52 It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. 53 For this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality. 54 When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the Tanakh will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.[e]
55 “Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?”[f]
56 The sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah!
58 So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain.
16 Now, in regard to the collection being made for God’s people: you are to do the same as I directed the congregations in Galatia to do. 2 Every week, on Motza’ei-Shabbat, each of you should set some money aside, according to his resources, and save it up; so that when I come I won’t have to do fundraising. 3 And when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the people you have approved, and I will send them to carry your gift to Yerushalayim. 4 If it seems appropriate that I go too, they will go along with me.
5 I will visit you after I have gone through Macedonia, for I am intending to pass through Macedonia, 6 and I may stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me continue my travels wherever I may go. 7 For I don’t want to see you now, when I am only passing through; because I am hoping to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows it. 8 But I will remain in Ephesus until Shavu‘ot, 9 because a great and important door has opened for my work, and there are many people opposing me.
10 If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to be afraid of while he is with you; for he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 So let no one treat him with disrespect. Help him on his way in peace, so that he will return to me, for the brothers and I are expecting him.
12 As for brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to go and visit you along with the other brothers; and although it was not at all his desire to come at this time, he will come when he has the opportunity.
13 Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, behave like a mentsh, grow strong. 14 Let everything you do be done in love.
15 Now, brothers, you know that the household of Stephanas were the first people in Achaia to put their trust in the Messiah, and they have devoted themselves to serving God’s people. 16 I urge you to submit yourselves to people like these and to everyone who works and toils with them. 17 I am glad that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus are here, because they have helped make up for your not being here. 18 They have refreshed my spirit, just as they have yours. I want you to show appreciation for people like these.
19 The congregations in the province of Asia send greetings to you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you in union with the Lord, as does the congregation that meets in their house. 20 All the brothers send you their greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 Now, I Sha’ul, greet you in my own handwriting.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse on him! Marana, ta!
[Our Lord, come!]
23 May the grace of the Lord Yeshua be with you.
24 My love is with you all, in union with the Messiah Yeshua.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 14:21 Isaiah 28:11–12
- 1 Corinthians 15:27 Psalm 8:7(6)
- 1 Corinthians 15:32 Isaiah 22:13, 56:12
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 Genesis 2:7
- 1 Corinthians 15:54 Isaiah 25:8
- 1 Corinthians 15:55 Hosea 13:14
Kehillah in Corinth I 13-16
Orthodox Jewish Bible
13 If in the leshonot of Bnei Adam and malachim I speak, but I do not have ahavah, I have become only a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 And if I have nevu’ah and have da’as of all sodot and all da’as, and if I have all emunah so as to remove mountains, but ahavah I do not have, I am nothing.
3 And if I’m a marbitz tzedaka and give all I possess in gemilut chasadim and if I give my body al kiddush ha-Shem for sereifah (death by burning), but ahavah I do not have, I have gained nothing. [DANIEL 3:28]
4 Ahavah suffers long; ahavah is kind; ahavah does not have kinah; ahavah does not brag; ahavah is not puffed up in ga’avah (conceit, pride);
5 ahavah does not behave shamelessly; ahavah does not in anochiyut insist on its own way; ahavah is not touchy and vindictive, keeping a record of wrongs (ZECHARYAH 8:17).
6 Ahavah does not find simcha in evil, but rejoices in HaEmes.
7 Ahavah covers all things (MISHLE 10:12), believes all things, has tikvah (hope), even zitzfleisch, for all things.
8 Ahavah never fails. However, divrei nevu’ah will be abolished; leshonot will cease; da’as will come to an end.
9 For we have da’as in part, and we have divrei nevu’ah is part.
10 But when shleimah (completion) comes, the teilvaiz (partial) will disappear.
11 When I was a yeled, I used to speak like one, think like one, reason like one. But when I became mevugar (mature), I put away kinderyohrn. [Ps 131:2]
12 For still we see through a mirror indistinctly. But then [in the Olam Haba], distinctly, panim el panim. Now I have da’as only in part; then I will have da’as fully, even as also Hashem had full da’as of me. [Job 26:14; 36:26; Gn 32:30; Job 19:26]
13 But now remain emunah, tikvah, and ahavah, these shalosh (three). And the greatest of these is ahavah.
14 Pursue ahavah (agape), and eagerly desire the things of the Ruach Hakodesh (matanot HaRuach Hakodesh), and especially that you may speak forth a dvar hanevu’ah (word of prophecy).
2 For the one speaking in a lashon (tongue) speaks not to Bnei Adam but to Hashem; for no one grasps with their ears, but the speaker by the Ruach Hakodesh speaks sodot (mysteries).
3 However, the one speaking forth divrei nevu’ah (words of prophecy) speaks to Bnei Adam for chizzuk (strengthening) and musar encouragement and nechamah (comfort).
4 The one speaking in a lashon (tongue) edifies himself; but, the one speaking forth a dvar hanevu’ah (word of prophecy) edifies kehillah.
5 Now I desire all of you to speak in leshonot (tongues), and even more that you may speak forth a dvar hanevu’ah (word of prophecy) (BAMIDBAR 11:29). Now greater is the one speaking forth a dvar nevu’ah (word of prophecy) than the one speaking in leshonot, unless he gives the pitron (interpretation) of the leshonot (tongues), that the kehillah (congregation) may receive the edification.
6 But now, Achim b’Moshiach, if I come to you speaking in leshonot (tongues), what will I benefit you unless I speak to you either with a dvar hisgalus (a word of revelation) or with a dvar da’as or with a dvar nevu’ah or with a dvar hora’ah (word of teaching)?
7 So even lifeless things, like the flute or harp, if they do not articulate a distinction in the notes, how will it be known what is being played on the flute or on the harp?
8 Indeed, if a shofar gives an unclear trumpet call, who will prepare himself for krav (battle)? [BAMIDBAR 10:9; YIRMEYAH 4:19]
9 So also unless you by your lashon (tongue) render an intelligible dvar Torah, how will the thing being uttered be known? For you will be merely speaking into the air.
10 There are doubtless many kinds of foreign languages in the Olam Hazeh, and not one is meaningless.
11 If, therefore, I do not have da’as of the meaning of the language, I will be to the speaker a foreigner and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. [BERESHIS 11:7]
12 So also you, als (since) you have a zeal for the matanot of the Ruach Hakodesh, endeavor to abound in them for the edification of the Kehillah (Congregation).
13 Therefore, the speaker in a lashon (tongue), let him offer tefillos that he may give the pitron (interpretation).
14 For if I daven (pray) in a lashon, my nashamah davens, but my sikhliyut (rationality) lies shemitah (fallow).
15 Nu? (Well?) I will daven [in leshonot] with my nashamah, and I will daven also with my seichel; I will sing [in leshonot] with my nashamah, and I will sing niggunim also with my seichel.
16 Otherwise, if you make a bracha [in leshonot] with your neshamah, how will the am ha’aretz, who have no idea what you are saying, answer the "Omein"? [DEVARIM 27:15:26; DIVREY HAYAMIM ALEF 16:36; NECHEMYAH 8:6; TEHILLIM 106:48]
17 For indeed you make the bracha well enough, but the other is not being edified.
18 Modeh Ani Hashem that I speak in leshonot more than all of you,
19 but in kehillah I want to speak five words with my sikhliyut (rationality), that also others I may instruct with a dvar hora’ah (word of teaching), rather than speak ten thousand words in a lashon (tongue).
20 Achim b’Moshiach, be not yeladim in your machsh’vot (thoughts); be infantile in kavvanah ra’ah (malice), perhaps, but in your binah, be mature. [YIRMEYAH 4:22]
21 In the Torah it stands written, KI BELA’AGEI SAFAH UVELASHON ACHERET YEDABER EL HAAM HAZEH...V’LO AVU SHMO’A ("Then with ones of foreign lip and with strange tongue he will speak to this people... but they were not willing to listen"‖YESHAYAH 28:11-12), says the L-rd.
22 So then the leshonot (tongues) are for an ot (miraculous sign), not to the ones believing, the ma’aminim in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, but an ot (miraculous sign) to the Apikorosim; but divrei hanevu’ah (words of prophecy) are not for the Apikorosim, but for the ones believing, the ma’aminim in Moshiach.
23 If, therefore, the kehillah has a farbrengen gathering and all speak in leshonot (tongues), and then in walks the am ha’aretz or the Apikorosim, will they not say that you are all meshuggah?
24 However, if all speak forth divrei hanevu’ah (words of prophecy), and then in walks some Apikorosim or am ha’aretz, such a visitor is brought under conviction by all, he is brought into mishpat (judgment) by all,
25 What is hiding in his lev (heart) becomes manifest, and, having fallen on his face, he worships Hashem, declaring that G-d is among you (Zech 8:23; Isa 45:14; Dan 2:47).
26 Nu? Well? Achim b’Moshiach, when you come together, each one has a mizmor (hymn, psalm), a musar (teaching with an ethical point), a dvar hisgalus (a dvar of revelation), a lashon (tongue), or a pitron (interpretation) of a lashon (tongue); let all things be for edification.
27 If anyone speaks in a lashon (tongue), let the speakers be shenayim (two) or at most shloshah (three), and by turn, and let one give the pitron (interpretation).
28 But if there is no one to give the pitron, let the one with the lashon (tongue) be silent in the kehillah and let him instead speak to himself and to Hashem.
29 And let shenayim or shloshah nevi’im speak and let the other nevi’im be used with discernings of ruchot (spirits) (12:10).
30 And if a dvar hisgalus (a word of revelation) is given to a navi sitting by, let the first navi become silent.
31 For you all are able one by one to speak forth a dvar hanevu’ah (word of prophecy), in order that all may learn and receive chizzuk (strengthening).
32 And the neshamot of nevi’im are subject to the nevi’im.
33 For Hashem is no Elohei HaMevucha (the G-d of Confusion, Tohu); He is Elohei HaShalom, and this is so in all the kehillot of the Kadoshim.
34 Let the nashim in the kehillot be silent, for it is not permitted for them to blurt out, but let them become submissive, as it says in the Torah (BERESHIS 3:16).
35 And if the nashim wish to inquire about something, let them inquire of their own be’alim b’bayis, for it is a bushah (shame) for an isha to blurt out in the kehillah (BERESHIS 3:2).
36 Or from you did the dvar Hashem go forth (YESHAYAH 2:3), or to you only did it reach?
37 If anyone thinks himself to be a navi or a man of the Ruach Hakodesh (2:13), let him have full da’as that the things I wrote to you are a mitzvoh of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.
38 But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.
39 So then, Achim b’Moshiach of mine, earnestly desire to speak forth a dvar hanevu’ah (word of prophecy), and do not forbid speaking in leshonot (tongues).
40 Let all things be done b’seder and without bushah (shame).
15 Now, Achim b’Moshiach, I draw your attention to the Besuras HaGeulah which I proclaimed to you, which also you received, in which also you stand firm, [Isa 40:9]
2 Through which also you are brought to Yeshua’at Eloheinu, provided you hold fast to the dvar Torah which I proclaimed to you, unless you received it in vain (cf. 15:12-14, 10).
3 For I transmitted and handed on to you as authoritative Torah, rishon (first), that which was also transmitted and handed on to me as authoritative Torah (Ga 1:18): that Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach died on behalf of avoneinu (our averos YESHAYAH 1:4, iniquities, gross wickedness, depravities) according to the Kitvei Hakodesh (YESHAYAH 53:8-9; DANIEL 9:26),
4 And that Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was buried in a kever (grave, burial place, YESHAYAH 53:9), and that Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was raised in a Techiyah from the mesim on YOM HASHLISHI (BERESHIS 1:11-13 [T.N. Chag HaBikkurim Lev 23:10-11, see 1C 15:20]; SHEMOT 19:11,15-16; YEHOSHUA 1:11; BAMIDBAR 19:11 13; YONAH 1:17; HOSHEA 6:2; MELACHIM BAIS 20:5,8; EZRA 6:15) according to the Kitvei Hakodesh (TEHILLIM 16:10),
5 And that Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was seen by Kefa, then by the Sheneym Asar,
6 Afterward Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was seen by over five hundred Achim b’Moshiach at one time, of whom most remain alive until now, though some sleep the sleep of the mesim.
7 Afterward, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was seen by Ya’akov (Ga 1:19, also see p.848), then by all the Shlichim.
8 And, last of all, even as if to one born not normally [like the rest], Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was seen by me also (cf. 9:1).
9 For I am the least of Moshiach’s Shlichim, not qualified to be called a Shliach, because I brought redifah (persecution) upon the Kehillah of Hashem.
10 But by the Chen v’Chesed Hashem I am what I am. And the Chen v’Chesed Hashem of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach to me was not in vain, but more abundantly than all the Moshiach’s Shlichim I labored, yet it was not I, but the Chen v’Chesed Hashem with me.
11 Whether it was I or those others, so we preached as Moshiach’s maggidim, and so you had emunah and became Moshiach’s ma’aminim.
12 And if Moshiach is being preached that from the Mesim (Dead ones) he has had his Techiyah (Resurrection), how is it that some among you say that there is no Techiyas HaMesim?
13 And if there is no Techiyas HaMesim, neither then has Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach been raised.
14 And if Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach has not been raised, then our preaching to you was in vain and also in vain is your emunah (faith).
15 Moreover, we are found also to be edei sheker (false witnesses) [SHEMOT 20:16; DEVARIM 19:16-21] misrepresenting Hashem Himself, because we gave solemn edut (testimony 1:6) as in the presence of G-d that Hashem raised Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach—whom, of course, He did not raise if, as you say, the Mesim are not bemetzius (in fact) raised.
16 For if the Mesim (Dead persons) have not Techiyah, neither has Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach had a Techiyah;
17 And if Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach has not already had his Techiyah from the Mesim, your emunah is futile, you are still in your averos (sins),
18 And even the ones who sleep the sleep of the Mesim in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach have perished.
19 Listen, if for the Olam Hazeh only we have tikvateinu in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, we are to be pitied more than kol Bnei Adam.
20 But in fact Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach has had His Techiyah! Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach is the Bikkurim ("Firstfruits" Gn 1:11-13; Ex 23:16; Lev 23:10-11), the Firstfruits of the ones having fallen asleep [in Moshiach].
21 For als (since) through an Adam (Man) came mavet (Gn 2:17), also through an Adam (Man, Moshiach) came the Techiyas HaMesim.
22 For as in Adam all die (Gn 3:19), so also in Moshiach all will be made alive.
23 But each one in his own order: the Bikkurim, Moshiach; afterward, the ones of Moshiach at the Bias HaMoshiach;
24 Then HaKetz when Moshiach gives over the Malchut Hashem to G-d, even Elohim Avinu (Dan 2:44; 7:13 14,27), after He has abolished all Mishrah and Shilton and Gevurah.
25 For it is necessary for Moshiach to reign until Hashem puts all His OYVIM ("enemies") under His RAGLAYIM ("feet," TEHILLIM 110:1). [YESHAYAH 9:7; 52:7]
26 The last Oyev (Enemy) to be abolished is Mavet.
27 For KOL HASHEM put TACHAT RAGLAV ("All things He subjected under His feet" TEHILLIM 8:7[6]) but when He says that KOL (“all things”) have been subjected, it is peshat (plain, literal) that this does not include the One [Hashem] who put all things in subjection under Moshiach.
28 But, when all things are subjected to Hashem, then also the Ben HaElohim [Moshiach] himself will be subjected to the One (Hashem) having subjected all things under him (Moshiach), that in all things G-d may be all [i.e., preeminent].
29 Otherwise, what will they do, the ones being given tevilah on behalf of the dead? If the Mesim really are not raised, why indeed are they given tevilah on behalf of the Mesim?
30 Why also are we putting ourselves at risk and in danger every hour?
31 Daily I die and that is as true a fact, Achim b’Moshiach, as it is that I glory over you in Moshiach Yehoshua Adoneinu.
32 If it were a mere humanistic matter, my fighting, so to speak, with wild beasts in Ephesus (Ac 19; 2C 1:3 10), what do I gain? If there is no Techiyas HaMesim, "Let us eat and drink, KI MACHAR NAMUT "For tomorrow we die" YESHAYAH 22:13; 56:12).
33 Do not fall under a delusion. "Bad chavrusashaft (association, influence or hashpa’ah) corrupts good midos."
34 Wake up and come to your senses. Start walking in the derech tzaddikim (TEHILLIM 1:6). Stop committing averos. Some among you have no saving da’as of Hashem. I say this to your bushah (shame).
35 But someone will question, "How does this Techiyas HaMesim come about? And in the Techiyas HaMesim, with what kind of body will they come?" [YECHEZKEL 37:3]
36 Yold, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies!
37 And what is it you sow? Not the body that is to be, but something else: a bare zera (seed), efsher (perhaps) of wheat or some other grain.
38 However, Hashem chooses [another] body to give to the [“dead” and buried] seed, and to each kind of zera is given by Hashem its own body (Gn 1:11-13; 47:18-19).
39 Now basar is not all the same: Bnei Adam have one kind of basar; animals, another; birds, another; fish, another;
40 and there are gufot baShomayim (heavenly bodies), and gufot baAretz (earthly bodies), but the kavod of the heavenly is of one kind, and the kavod of the earthly of another kind.
41 There is one kavod (glory) of the shemesh (sun), and another kavod (glory) of the levanah (moon), and another kavod (glory) of the kochavim (stars), for in kavod (glory), kochav differs from kochav. [TEHILLIM 19:4-6; 8:1,3]
42 So also is the Techiyas HaMesim. That which is sown is of one kind, perishable; that which is raised up is of another kind, imperishable. [DANIEL 12:3]
43 What is sown without kavod is raised in kavod. What is sown in weakness is raised in ko’ach (power).
44 What is sown a natural body, is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.
45 So, also, it has been written, VAY’HI HAADAM L’NEFESH CHAYYAH ("And the [first] Man became a living soul," BERESHIS 2:7); but the Adam haacharon (last Adam) became a Ruach mechayyeh (Yn 5:26).
46 But the spiritual body is not harishon, but the natural; then afterward the spiritual.
47 The Adam Harishon is AFAR MIN HA’ADAMAH ("dust from the earth, ground" BERESHIS 2:7), out of ha’aretz. The Adam HaSheini (the second Adam) is out of Shomayim. [BERESHIS 2:7; 3:19; TEHILLIM 90:3]
48 As was the Adam of dust, such also are those of the dust; as was the Adam of Shomayim, such also are those who are of Shomayim.
49 And just as we have borne the demut of the Adam MIN AFAR HA’ADAMAH ("from the dust of the earth" BERESHIS 2:7), so we will bear also the likeness of the Heavenly Adam (Man). [BERESHIS 5:3]
50 Now this I say, Achim b’Moshiach, that basar vadahm cannot inherit the Malchut Hashem, neither can the perishable inherit the imperishable (TEHILLIM 16:9-10; IYOV 19:25-26).
51 Hinei! I speak a sod (mystery) to you: we will not all sleep the sleep of the Mesim, but we will all be changed.
52 In a rega (moment), in the wink of an eye, at the last shofar blast. For the shofar will sound, the Mesim (dead ones) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For it is necessary for this perishable nature to put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature to put on the immortal.
54 But when this perishable nature puts on the imperishable, and this mortal, the immortal, then the dvar hanevu’ah will come to pass that stands written, "He will swallow up death forever" (YESHAYAH 25:8) in victory.
55 EHI DEVARECHA MAVET EHI KATAVECHA SHEOL? ("Where are your plagues, O Death? Where is your destruction, O Sheol?" HOSHEA 13:14)
56 Now the sting of death is chet (sin) and the ko’ach (power) of chet (sin) is chukkat haTorah [see Dt 27:26; Ga 3:1-13; Ro 7:7-13].
57 But Baruch Hashem, Who is giving us the nitzachon (victory) through Adoneinu Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
58 So then, Chaverim and Achim b’Moshiach of mine, be steadfast, immovable, abounding always in the avodas kodesh of Adoneinu, have da’as that your po’al (work) is not in vain in Hashem [2Ch 15:7; Isa 65:23].
16 Now, concerning the maamadot (financial contributions) and the pishkeh (pushke) we are circulating throughout the kehillot for the benefit of the Yerushalayim Kadoshim, as I directed the kehillot of Galatia, so you do also.
2 Every Yom Rishon (T.N. which begins Motzoei Shabbos by Biblical reckoning, each day being an evening and a morning) of each week, each of you by himself make something farnumen (set aside), storing up according to his hakhnasah (income), so that collections need not be made when I come.
3 And when I arrive, whomever you approve, these I will send with iggrot to carry your matanah to Yerushalayim.
4 And if it is fitting for me also to go, they will go with me.
5 And I will come to you whenever I pass through Macedonia, for I will be passing through Macedonia.
6 Efsher (perhaps) I will stay with you, or even spend the choref (winter) that you may help me with a send-off wherever I may go.
7 For I do not want to see you now in passing, for I have the tikvah to remain some time with you, im yirtzeh Hashem (G-d willing, permitting).
8 But, I will remain on in Ephesus until Shavuos [Lv 23:15-21; Dt 16:9-11],
9 For a delet (door) has opened, great and effective, for me, but there are many mitnaggedim (opponents).
10 Now if Timotiyos comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for the avodas kodesh of Hashem he labors in as I do.
11 Therefore, let not anyone despise him. But give him a send-off in shalom that he may come to me; for I am waiting for him with the Achim b’Moshiach.
12 Now, concerning Apollos the Ach b’Moshiach, I strongly exhorted him, that he would come to you with the Achim b’Moshiach. But he is beshum oifen (absolutely) unwilling to go at this time, but he will come whenever he has an opportunity.
13 Watch, stand firm in the [Orthodox Jewish] emunah (faith), be men, be strong [TEHILLIM 31:24].
14 Let everything you do be done in ahavah (agape).
15 Now, I urge you, Achim b’Moshiach, you have da’as of the bais of Stephanas, that it is the bikkurim of Achaia, and that they have with devotion and zerizut (diligence) put themselves in avodas kodesh ministry for the Kadoshim.
16 Become submissive to such as him and to everyone joining in the avodas kodesh and laboring.
17 Now, I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and of Fortunatus and of Achaicus, because these men filled up your absence,
18 For they refreshed my neshamah and yours. Give recognition to such men [14:38].
19 Drishat Shalom from the Kehillot of Moshiach of Asia. Drishat Shalom warmly in Adoneinu from Aquila and Prisca, together with the Adat Moshiach in their bais.
20 Drishat Shalom from all the Achim b’Moshiach. Greet one another with a neshikat hakodesh (holy kiss).
21 THIS GREETING WITH MY OWN HAND, SHA’UL.
22 If anyone does not have ahavah (love) for HaAdon, Alav ki Cherem hu ("a curse of the ban of destruction is on him") [12:3]. Marana (our L-rd), tha (come).
23 The Chen v’Chesed Hashem of Moshiach Adoneinu be with you.
24 My ahavah be with you all in Moshiach Yehoshua.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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