⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish,^(A) so the Son of Man^(B) will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.^(C)

²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth^(A) was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,^(B) which God did among you through him,^(C) as you yourselves know. ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge;^(D) and you, with the help of wicked men,^[a] put him to death by nailing him to the cross.^{(E) 24} But God raised him from the dead,^(F) freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.^(G)

²⁹ “Fellow Israelites,^(A) I can tell you confidently that the patriarch^(B) David died and was buried,^(C) and his tomb is here^(D) to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.^{(E) 31} Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.^{(F) 32} God has raised this Jesus to life,^(G) and we are all witnesses^(H) of it.

³⁴ God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said,

³⁵ So it is also stated elsewhere:

³⁶ “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep;^(C) he was buried with his ancestors^(D) and his body decayed. ³⁷ But the one whom God raised from the dead^(E) did not see decay.

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once^(A) for sins,^(B) the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.^(C) He was put to death in the body^(D) but made alive in the Spirit.^{(E) 19} After being made alive,^[a] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits^(F)— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently^(G) in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.^(H) In it only a few people, eight in all,^(I) were saved^(J) through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you^(K) also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience^(L) toward God.^[b] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,^(M)

⁶ For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead,^(A) so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[a]?

⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[a](A)

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin,^(C) and the power of sin is the law.^{(D) 57} But thanks be to God!^(E) He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.^(F)

⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”^[a](A) (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).^(B)