He Will Not Forsake His Saints

^[a] Of David.

³ And Joseph said to his brothers, ^(A)“I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, ^(B)whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, ^(C)for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are ^(D)yet five years in which there will be neither ^(E)plowing nor harvest. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ^(F)ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. ^10 (G)You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ^11 (H)There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’

¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, ^(A)“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish person! ^(B)What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, 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 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

^42 (C)So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; ^(D)it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, ^(E)“The first man Adam became a living being”;^{[a] (F)}the last Adam became a ^(G)life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ^47 (H)The first man was from the earth, ^(I)a man of dust; ^(J)the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, ^(K)so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just ^(L)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(M)we shall^[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: ^(N)flesh and blood ^(O)cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁴³ And all were astonished at ^(A)the majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

^(B)But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus^[a] said ^(C)to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: ^(D)The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ^45 (E)But they did not understand this saying, and ^(F)it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

^46 (G)An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸ and said to them, ^(H)“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and ^(I)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ^(J)he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

^49 (K)John answered, “Master, we saw someone ^(L)casting out demons in your name, and ^(M)we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ^(N)for the one who is not against you is for you.”