²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me;^(A) my only aim is to finish the race^(B) and complete the task^(C) the Lord Jesus has given me^(D)—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.^(E)

⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die^(A) in the arena. We have been made a spectacle^(B) to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.

³⁰ And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?^{(A) 31} I face death every day^(B)—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³² If I fought wild beasts^(C) in Ephesus^(D) with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

³³ Do not be misled:^(F) “Bad company corrupts good character.”^{[b](G) 34} Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God^(H)—I say this to your shame.^(I)

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask,^(J) “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”^{(K) 36} How foolish!^(L) What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.^{(M) 37} When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.^{(N) 39} Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor,^(O) the moon another and the stars another;^(P) and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴² So will it be^(Q) with the resurrection of the dead.^(R) The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;^{(S) 43} it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;^(T) it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.^(U)

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”^[c];^(V) the last Adam,^(W) a life-giving spirit.^{(X) 46} The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.^{(Y) 47} The first man was of the dust of the earth;^(Z) the second man is of heaven.^{(AA) 48} As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.^{(AB) 49} And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,^(AC) so shall we^[d] bear the image of the heavenly man.^(AD)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood^(AE) cannot inherit the kingdom of God,^(AF) nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.^{(AG) 51} Listen, I tell you a mystery:^(AH) We will not all sleep,^(AI) but we will all be changed^(AJ)— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,^(AK) the dead^(AL) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable^(AM) must clothe itself with the imperishable,^(AN) and the mortal with immortality. 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.”^[e](AO)

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

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,^(AU) because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.^(AV)

⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God,^(A) who raises the dead.^(B)

¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,^(A) so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.^{(B) 11} For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake,^(C) so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.^(D)

¹³ It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^[a](E) Since we have that same spirit of^[b] faith,^(F) we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead^(G) will also raise us with Jesus^(H) and present us with you to himself.^{(I) 15} All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving^(J) to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart.^(K) Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly^(L) we are being renewed^(M) day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.^{(N) 18} So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,^(O) since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying,^(A) and yet we live on;^(B) beaten, and yet not killed;

²³ Are they servants of Christ?^(A) (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder,^(B) been in prison more frequently,^(C) been flogged more severely,^(D) and been exposed to death again and again.^(E)