²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,^(A) the firstfruits^(B) of those who have fallen asleep.^(C)

²³ But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits;^(A) then, when he comes,^(B) those who belong to him.^(C)

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,^(A) the firstborn from the dead,^(B) and the ruler of the kings of the earth.^(C)

To him who loves us^(D) and has freed us from our sins by his blood,^(E)

²³ that the Messiah would suffer^(A) and, as the first to rise from the dead,^(B) would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”^(C)

¹⁸ And he is the head^(A) of the body, the church;^(B) he is the beginning and the firstborn^(C) from among the dead,^(D) so that in everything he might have the supremacy.