³² If I fought with wild animals at Ephesus with a merely human perspective, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’^(A)

¹² These people, however, are like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed. They slander what they do not understand, and as those creatures are destroyed,^[a] they also will be destroyed,

¹⁹ When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but first he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.

¹⁰ But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct.

The Promise to Abraham

¹⁵ Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will^[a] has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it.^(A)

⁸ We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.^{(A) 9} Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us;^[a] on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,^(B)

¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations.^[a] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.^(A)